World Championship: Ekevwo reaches 100m semis, Oduduru, Okagbare pull out

2019 African Games gold medalist, Raymond Ekevwo, has qualified for the 100m men’s semi-finals at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.

Ekevwo finished second in Heat 3 on 10.14 seconds to gain a spot and is placed against defending champion U.S. Justin Gatlin in Heat 2 of the semis which begin on Saturday.

Teammate Usheoritse Itsekiri ran 10. 46 in Heat 2 Round 1 to finish bottom of the table and did not qualify for semi-finals.

Meanwhile, Africa’s second-fastest man Divine Oduduru and Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguenor opted out of the 100m race to focus on the 200m, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria said via its twitter handle.

“Both athletes have decided to rather focus on the 200m and relay events. Contrary to speculations none of the athletes are injured.”

Oduduru’s Personal Best of 9.85 this season is few seconds shy of Olusoji Fasuba’s 9.86, who is Africa’s fastest man since 2006.

The World Championships began on Friday and ends on Oct. 6.