Favour Ofili has been making headlines since last week, when news of her allegiance switch to Turkey first broke. Yesterday, she gave fans another reason to talk, taking down reigning 200m Olympic champion Gabby Thomas in a 100m race. You would think that win would be the main reason for all the buzz, right? Well, here’s the twist—Ofili’s name is once again at the center of discussion, not just for her performance, but because the track and field community is still confused about her nationality. Is she Nigerian? Or Turkish? A host of unanswered questions remain.
Frustrated with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria’s (AFN) repeated setbacks, Favour Ofili had put in an application before the Athletics Integrity Unit to switch her allegiance to Turkey, effective May 31. While this news kept going around, the AFN president said that they weren’t informed of any such kind of switch. That’s where the confusion started to stem. And it has now grown into a larger debate after Favour Ofili won a race recently, where her nationality continued to be associated with Nigeria….
On June 28, the results of the women’s 100m, held at the ATX Classic in Texas, were announced. And that’s when Ofili put the world on notice as she ran a windy 10.78s (3.1) to win the same, while her competitors like Gabby Thomas followed behind in 10.95s. But when this news broke out on social media, mainly X, the Nigerian flag emoji was placed next to Favour Ofili’s name, leading to widespread confusion. That’s when the comment section flooded with comments like, “you mean favor ofili of turkey ?”
But switching over to a different nation is not as plain-sailing a task as it may sound. For Favour Ofili to switch to Turkey, she’ll have to pass through a lot of technicalities. As of now, she has just submitted an application. Nothing is confirmed yet, and here’s why that is.
10.78s!!
Favour Ofili runs a windy 10.78s (3.1) to win the women’s 100m final at the ATX Sprint Classic in Texas!
She beat Gabby Thomas who ran 10.95s, while Kayla White ran 10.97s for 3rd place. pic.twitter.com/v3MZvzCCpe
— Track & Field Gazette (@TrackGazette) June 28, 2025
As per the National Sports Commission director general, Bukola Olopade, no official confirmation has been received regarding Favour Ofili’s switch. This means that she remains a Nigerian athlete for now. Even the World Athletics has confirmed that they have received four applications from Turkey to review these probable athlete transfers from Jamaica and Nigeria, but they haven’t been approved yet. So, Ofili’s official switch and conversion to a Turkish nation has a few months to go.
But well, not all these track and field fans seemed aware of this catch. Thus, while a few applauded Ofili’s latest feat, others pointed out the corrections that need to be made in her nationality details.
Track and field fans point out mistakes surrounding Favour Ofili’s nationality
One of the fans commented under the post, “So will that be considered a Turkish national record or nah?” exhibiting the extent of the prevailing confusion. Well, the 10.78s 100m time is now a new personal best for Favour Ofili, but it won’t be considered a Turkish record as she is yet to get the official stamp on her switch application. So anything she runs until then will be added to the Nigerian record books.
While some fans posed serious questions, others pointed out the discrepancy in the posts as if it were a mistake. A second fan cheekily commented, “ change the flag?” to put in a humorous reminder that Ofili’s switch is underway. However, they didn’t seem to be aware that the flag won’t change until things get the administrative go-ahead. The same was for another user who added a subtle reminder, “Favour Ofili *.” But there’s a long way to go for that!
But while fans were completely clueless, a few of them took their chances to arrive at a logical conclusion. One such fan replied back saying, “I think it means she represents Turkey now in international events. This is just a university meet.” But that’s not true. Neither does Favour Ofili represent Turkey at international events yet nor is the ATX Classic a university meet. It is in fact open to athletes from various categories, high school, colleges, clubs, unattached runners, etc.
However, in the end, Favour Ofili’s win seemed to be symbolic of the fact that nothing is holding her back anymore! No wonder another fan said, “Already faster after shedding that Nigerian weight off her back ” Well, hope these details help fans understand why Ofili’s still a Nigerian.
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