Femi Ogunode

Femi Seun Ogunode

Ogunode at the 2015 Memorial Van Damme
Personal information
Nationality	Qatari
Born	15 May 1991 Ondo City, Nigeria
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Weight	72 kg (159 lb) (2014)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	100–400 m
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100 m – 9.91 (2015) 200 m – 19.97 (2015) 400 m – 45.12 (2010)[2][3]
Medal record Representing  Qatar World Indoor Championships 2014 Sopot 60 m Asian Games 2010 Guangzhou 200 m 2010 Guangzhou 400 m 2014 Incheon 100 m 2014 Incheon 200 m Asian Athletics Championships 2015 Wuhan 100 m Asian Indoor Championships 2014 Hangzhou 60 m Representing Asia-Pacific Continental Cup 2014 Marrakech 100 m 2014 Marrakech 200 m

Ogunode in 2011

Femi Seun Ogunode (born 15 May 1991 in Ondo City) is a Nigerian-born sprint athlete who competes internationally for Qatar.^[4] His personal best of 9.91 at 100 m makes him the current holder of the Asian 100m record.

Ogunode made his international debut for Qatar at the 2010 Asian Games and won a 200 metres/400 metres double. The following year he won Asian and Arab titles over 200 m as well as 100 metres/200 m sprint titles at the 2011 Military World Games. He was a finalist in the 400 m at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, but served a two-year ban from January 2012 to 2014 after a positive drugs test.

He won his second career double at the Asian Games in 2014, this time in the 100 m/200 m, and set an Asian record of 9.93 seconds for the former event (the second Asian man to break the 10-second barrier after fellow Qatari-Nigerian Samuel Francis). He also won bronze medals at a global level that year at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships and 2014 IAAF Continental Cup.

Ogunode improved his Asian record to 9.91 to win the 100 m at the 2015 Asian Athletics Championships, he also improved is 200 meters Asian record of 19.97 (−0.4) in Brussels on 11 September 2015.

Career

In Nigeria, Ogunode ran for University of Ibadan and qualified for the 2007 All-Africa Games and the 2008 Summer Olympics. However, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria left him off of the final rosters for both events for undisclosed reasons. Following these slights, Ogunode accepted an offer to compete internationally for Qatar.^[5]

He moved to Qatar in October 2009 and began international competition the following year. He won the 100 metres and 200 metres at the West Asian Championships and was entered into the 2010 Asian Games. At the Games in Guangzhou he took two gold medals, winning over 200 m and 400 metres with personal bests of 20.43 seconds and 45.12 seconds, respectively.^[6] This made him only the second athlete in Games history to have won both events at the same competition – Milkha Singh first achieved this at the 1958 Asian Games.^[7]

He follows in the footsteps of Samuel Francis, another Nigerian sprinter who transferred to compete for Qatar.

He became the Asian champion in 200 metres, at Kobe, Japan.^[8] He equalled the Championships record (20.41 s) en route to gold. He then did even better at the Military World Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, when he completed a 100 metres and 200 metres double. He set new championship marks over both distances (10.07 and 20.46).^[9]

Ogunode served a two-year ban lasting until January 2014 for the use of the prohibited substance Clenbuterol. In September 2014 he won the 100 m event at the Asian Games setting a new Asian record at 9.93 s.^[10] He also won the 200 m gold at Incheon. He set a further Asian record at the 2015 Asian Athletics Championships by winning the 100 m in a time of 9.91 seconds, having already broken the championship record with a run of 9.97 seconds in the semi-finals.^[11]

Personal life

His name Femi is a Yoruba translation^[12] pronounced "F-eh-mi" and means "love me" or "marry me". His younger brother, Tosin Ogunode, is also a sprinter for Qatar.^[13] Ogunode's four brothers all live in Doha, Qatar and his four sisters are married and settled in Nigeria. He has a son named Femi Nathan.^[5]

Ogunode's father, T S B Ogunode, was a boxer and his mother, Adesola Ogunode, was a sprinter. Before focusing on running, Ogunode boxed and played football. He was a successful youth boxer and competed in state-level championships.^[5]

Personal bests

Outdoor

• 100 metres – 9.91 seconds (2015) AR
• 200 metres – 19.97 seconds (2015) AR
• 400 metres – 45.12 seconds (2010)

Indoor

• 60 metres – 6.51 seconds (2014)
• 400 metres – 47.15 seconds (2010)

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
2010	Asian Games	Guangzhou, China	1st	200 m	20.43
			1st	400 m	45.12
2011	Asian Championships	Kobe, Japan	1st	200 m	20.41 CR
	Military World Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	1st	100 m	10.07 GR
			1st	200 m	20.46 GR
	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	9th (sf)	200 m	20.58
			8th	400 m	45.55
	Arab Championships	Al Ain, United Arab Emirates	3rd	100 m	10.37
			1st	200 m	20.59
			3rd	4×100 m relay	40.13
	Pan Arab Games	Doha, Qatar	1st	100 m	10.37
			2nd	200 m	21.01
2014	Asian Indoor Championships	Hangzhou, China	2nd	60 m	6.62
	World Indoor Championships	Sopot, Poland	3rd	60 m	6.52
	Continental Cup	Marrakech, Morocco	3rd	100 m	10.04
			3rd	200 m	20.17
	Asian Games	Incheon, South Korea	1st	100 m	9.93 AR GR
			1st	200 m	20.14 GR
2015	Arab Championships	Isa Town, Bahrain	1st	100 m	10.04w
			1st	200 m	20.52w
	Asian Championships	Wuhan, China	1st	100 m	9.91 AR CR
	World Championships	Beijing, China	10th (sf)	100 m	10.00
			7th	200 m	20.27
2016	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	37th (h)	100 m	10.28
			23rd (h)	200 m	20.36

References

1. Femi Ogunode. 2014 Asian Games profile
2. Femi Ogunode. trackfield.brinkster.net
3. Femi Ogunode. IAAF
4. OGUNODE Femi Seun – Biography. Guangzhou2010. Retrieved on 10 December 2010.
5. Chris, Aju George (15 October 2014). "Seunshine days are back!". Doha Stadium Plus. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
6. Ogunode and Fukushima complete doubles in Guangzhou – Asian Games, Day 5. IAAF (26 November 2010). Retrieved on 28 November 2010.
7. Nakamura, Ken (December 2010). Event by event statistic analysis. Guangzhou2010. Retrieved on 10 December 2010.
8. Cris, Aju George (13 July 2011) Golden trio. dohastadiumplusqatar.com
9. Taking Rio by storm. dohastadiumplusqatar.com (27 July 2011)
10. Ogunode sets area 100m record of 9.93 at the Asian Games. iaaf.org. 28 September 2014
11. Qatar's Ogunode renews men's 100m Asian record at Asian Championships. Xinhua (4 June 2015). Retrieved on 2015-06-04.
12. "Femi: Yoruba Names". Behind the Name. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
13. Veloce e sconosciuto (Italian). FIDAL (27 January 2014). Retrieved on 23 February 2014.

External links

• Femi Ogunode profile at IAAF