Oduduru Divine has emerged winner at the Michael Johnson Invitational Event with a 2019 world fastest time In 100 meters and 200 meters.
Oduduru Divine made the 100 meters run under 10 seconds in 9.95 seconds, later rounded off to 9.94 seconds to achieve the win.
The new feat is not just a new Personal Best (PB) for Oduduru Divine, it is also a new School Record (SR) and the fastest time in the 100m in the world this year.
Since Nigerian sprint legend, Olusoji Fasuba, ran a time of 9.85 seconds, in 2006 to set a new African record, no runner from the country has been able to run the 100 meters event under 10 seconds in the last 13 years.
Less than an hour after running the 100 meters in 9.94 seconds, the Texas Tech sprinter ran the 200 in 19.76 seconds. The 19.76 seconds winning time for Oduduru Divine once ratified by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), will be declared a new national record as it supersedes the 19.84 seconds set by Francis Obikwelu in 1999 at the World Championships in Seville Spain.
According to Tech coach Wes Kittley:
“In my 35 years of coaching, I’ve never seen anything like it.
To run that 9.94 and then 40 minutes later, ran the 200. This was a really tight schedule and pretty spectacular performances that close together.
There’s several guys running in the 9.9s but you start separating the 19.70s, that’s really a fabulous mark. And that’s his best race right now.
But it’s the best 100-meter race I’ve seen him put together since we’ve had him. He really drove the right amount of time before he came up and got into his transition, so I was really proud of his race setup.”
According to lubbockonline.com, only 18 other men have ever run 19.76 or faster outdoors in the 200m. Among them is the world record holder, Usain Bolt. Most of the others are legends, too — stars such as Johnson, Carl Lewis, LaShawn Merritt, Yohan Blake, Justin Gatlin, Walter Dix, Tyson Gay and Wallace Spearmon.
The 19.76 ties for 52nd all-time. Bolt set the record at 19.19, one of 18 times he’s clocked 19.76 or faster. Gay ran 19.76 or faster seven times, Gatlin six times, Dix four times.
But Oduduru’s 19.76 is the second-fastest ever by a collegian.
The 5-foot-10, 165-pound junior from Nigeria broke the Clyde Hart Stadium records of 10.02 seconds and 20.30 seconds, both set by then Baylor star, Trayvon Bromell, who won the 2016 World Championships gold medal in the 60 meters.
Oduduru eclipsed his previous school records: 10.10 that he ran last April, also at the Michael Johnson Invitational, and 20.13 in the 200m that he ran last May at the Big 12 meet in Waco.
