Ejowvokoghene Divine Oduduru (born 7 October 1996) is a Nigerian sprinter specializing in the

100-meter The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

and

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

. He holds personal bests of 9.86 seconds for the 100 m and 19.73 seconds for the 200 m. The latter is a Nigerian national record. In age category competitions, he was a twice-champion at the

African Youth Athletics Championships The African Youth Athletics Championships is a biennial continental athletics competition for African athletes, organised by the Confederation of African Athletics. First held in 2013, it is a youth category event open to athletes aged fifteen to ...

, a five-time African Junior Champion in the sprints and the 200 m silver medallist at the 2014 World Junior Championships. He represented his country as a senior athlete at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

and

2014 African Championships in Athletics The 2014 African Championships in Athletics was held in Marrakech, Morocco from 10 to 14 August 2014. The competition was the 19th edition of Africa senior championships. The competition served as preparation to African athletes for the next conti ...

, before winning 200 m silver medals at the

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

and

2019 African Games The 12th African Games was held from 19 to 31 August 2019 in Rabat, Morocco. This was the first time that the African Games were hosted by Morocco following the country's readmission to the African Union in January 2017. Bidding process The 12th ...

as well as the 2018 African Championships. He is a two-time Nigerian national champion and is a four-time

NCAA champion The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges a ...

in American collegiate competition, running for the

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams use the "Red Raider ...

. He is sponsored by Puma.

Career

Under-20 competition

He was the gold medalist in both the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

and

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

at the

2013 African Youth Athletics Championships The 2013 African Youth Athletics Championships were the first edition of the biennial athletics competition for African athletes aged fifteen to seventeen. It was held in Warri, Nigeria, on 28–31 March. A total of 40 events were originally sche ...

. He was a finalist in the 200 m at the

2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics was the eighth edition of the biennial international athletics competition for youth (under-18) athletes. The five-day competition took place between 10 and 14 July at the RSC Olimpiyskiy stadium i ...

. He won the 200 m at the 2013 African Junior Championships and was also a member of the Gold medal winning 4 × 100 m relay quartet. He successfully defended his 200 m title at the 2015 African Junior Championships and also added the 100 m and 4 × 100 m gold medals to his tally. This made him a five-time African Junior Champion. Oduduru became known for his interviews, with his interviews at the

gaining popularity among fans, including his phrase 'deadly day'. Memes and videos have been generated using his responses to journalists. He lamented the inadequate support for Nigerian athletes and made a plea for sponsorship during the 2016 Nigeria Championships. In 2014, he dipped under 21 seconds for the first time. He became the Nigerian National Champion in the 200 metres. After setting a PB of 20.66 s in the semifinals at the 2014 World Junior Championships, he went on to win the silver medal in a windy 20.25 s behind

Trentavis Friday Trentavis Friday (born June 5, 1995) is an American track and field athlete specializing in sprinting events. He is the USA Men's High School Record Holder over 100 metres. A native of Gastonia, North Carolina, Friday attended Cherryville Hig ...

of the US.

Senior career

He led off the Nigerian 4x100 metres relay team at the

, a team supported by former American athletes,

Monzavous Edwards Monzavous "Rae" Edwards (born May 7, 1981) is an American sprint athlete who specialises in the 100 meters. Edwards began his career as a junior athlete in 2000, winning the USA Junior and Junior College (JUCO) championships in the 100 and 200 ...

and

Mark Jelks Mark Elliott Jelks (born April 10, 1984) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 100-meter dash. He has a personal best of 9.99 seconds for the event and represented the United States at the 2007 World Championships in ...

, who were running for Nigeria in their first international relay. Due to illness, he pulled out of the 2015 Nigerian Championships and could not defend his 200 m title. He, however, bounced back for the

All-Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union (AU) with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (AN ...

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CL ...

. Oduduru ran a PB of 20.45 s into a headwind of 1.2 m/s to win the silver medal behind Ivorian sprinter,

Hua Wilfried Koffi Hua Wilfried Serge Koffi (born 12 October 1987) is an Ivorian athlete specializing in sprinting events. He won the bronze medal at the 2013 and the gold at the 2015 Summer Universiade in addition to multiple medals on the continental level. Com ...

. His team mate and 2015 Nigerian champion Tega Odele placed third. Oduduru was selected for the 200 m at the 2016 African Championships in Durban. After posting the second-fastest time in the semifinals, he did not run in the finals due to injury. At the 2018 Michael Johnson Invitational meet in

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the s ...

, Divine improved his personal best in the 100 m to 10.10 s, improving the

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

school record by 0.01 s. A year later at the same meet he improved his personal bests and set world-leading times of 9.94 s and 19.76 s, in the 100 m and 200 m respectively. His time in the 200 m broke the national record of 19.84 s set by Francis Obikwelu in 1999. During 2019, he focused mainly on collegiate competition. He set a personal best in the

60-meter dash 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior at ...

at the 2019 Big 12 Indoor Championships, running 6.52 seconds for the distance to win the regional title. He also won the 200 m Big 12 Indoor title. At the

2019 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2019 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships was the 55th NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships and the 38th NCAA Women's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, held at the Birmingham Crossplex in B ...

he won the 200 m title and placed seventh in the 60 m final. At the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, he won the 100 m in 9.99 seconds, having broken the

10-second barrier The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less i ...

for the first time at the earlier Michael Johnson Invitational meet. He also helped the Texas Tech Red Raiders to the 4 × 100 m relay title. At the 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, he won a sprint double in the 100 m and 200 m, as well as taking third in the 4 × 100 m relay. His 100 m time of 9.86 seconds was the fastest in the world at that point of the season, and his 200 m time of 19.73 seconds was a championships record. Oduduru made his debut on the

2019 IAAF Diamond League The 2019 Diamond League was the tenth season of the annual series of outdoor track and field meetings, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It featured fourteen meetings, with the final two meetings serving ...

circuit at the 2019 Herculis meet, but finished in last place.

2023: Provisional suspension

On February 9, 2023,

Athletics Integrity Unit The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) was founded by the International Association of Athletics Federations in April 2017 to combat doping in the sport of athletics. The unit functions fully independently from the IAAF. It is currently led by head Br ...

announced that Oduduru had been provisionally suspended for possession/use or attempted use of a prohibited substance (two potential Anti-Doping Rule Violations) in connection with the case of

Blessing Okagbare Blessing Oghnewresem Okagbare-Otegheri (born 9 October 1988) is a former Nigerian track and field athlete who specialized in Long jump and sprints. She is an Olympic and World Championships medalist in the long jump, and a world medalist in th ...

, his compatriot banned for 11 years in 2022. Oduduru faces a six-year ban.

Statistics

*Information from

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

profile.

Personal bests

Seasonal bests

International competitions

National competitions

*NCAA results from Track & Field Results Reporting System.

Notes

References

External links

* *
Divine Oduduru
bio at

Divine Oduduru
on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oduduru, Divine Living people 1996 births Sportspeople from Delta State Nigerian male sprinters Olympic athletes of Nigeria Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Nigeria Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games African Games silver medalists for Nigeria African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 African Games Texas Tech Red Raiders men's track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 African Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century Nigerian people