By Victor Kanayo
Nigerian sprint star Favour Ofili, on Saturday, made headlines by finishing first overall in the women’s 150m with a sensational time of 15.85s (2.0m/s) at the 2025 Adidas Atlanta City Games, held at Piedmont Park in the United States.
Her finishing time means the 22-year-old Nigerian shattered the world record, becoming the first woman in history to run the event in under 16 seconds. She broke the previous mark of 16.23s set by Bahamian Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo in 2018.
Ofili’s run headlined an impressive showing for Nigerians at the high-profile street meet, which featured top global athletes in a fan-friendly, open-air setting.
Runner-up Tamari Davis also delivered an impressive performance, clocking 16.14s — also under the previous world best.
Amusan In Same Star Shape
Ofili’s compatriot, Tobi Amusan, clocked 12.53s to finish second in her heat behind American Keni Harrison (12.44s), qualifying for the final later in the day.
Amusan, who previously ran 12.74s and 12.66s in Xiamen and Keqiao respectively, appears to be building momentum ahead of the summer championships.
Another compatriot, sprinter Udodi Onwuzurike, also impressed, running a season’s best of 10.20s to finish second in his 100m heat behind South Africa’s Akani Simbine, who won in 10.13s.
Onwuzurike’s performance was enough to earn him a spot in the final and marks aF strong return to form in his 2025 campaign.
Recall that Amusan broke the world record in the 100m hurdles a few years ago at a World Championship.
The Adidas Atlanta City Games is a unique street-style athletics event held outside traditional stadium settings, bringing athletes and fans closer together in an electric atmosphere.
Other Performances
Also on Saturday, American Keni Harrison won the 100m hurdles in 12.30s with a tailwind of 2.1 metres per second, just one tenth above the legal limit for record purposes.
Harrison’s wind-legal personal best of 12.20s from 2016 stood as the world record until 2022 and the American record until two weeks ago.
Akani Simbine of South Africa won the men’s 100m in 9.86s, aided by a 2.3m/s tailwind.
Simbine now holds the world’s fastest times this year in both a wind-legal race (9.90s) and an all-conditions race with Saturday’s sprint.
The 150m is not contested at major meets like the Olympics and World Championships.
