Following an exceptional start to the 2023 indoor season, Nigerian sprinter Favour Ashe is aiming to become only the third athlete in Nigerian history to run a 6.4‑second 60 m. A 6.4‑second performance would make him the fastest 60 m runner from Nigeria and Africa this year and place him third on the NCAA top list. To achieve this, the 20‑year‑old must improve on his lifetime best of 6.51 seconds, joining Deji Aliu (national record 6.48) and Olusoji Fasuba (6.49) as the only Nigerians to have broken the 6.5‑second barrier.
Auburn University sophomore Ashe set a season‑best of 6.53 seconds at the Tiger Paw Invitational last weekend. He now has his sights set on the SEC Championships, where he hopes to post a strong time in the 60 m and break the 6.50‑second mark for the first time in his career. “My goal going into the SEC in Arkansas is to lower my PB, at least doing 6.48 or 6.49. With what I’ve been doing in practice, I think I can achieve that at the SEC, and I also want to be the SEC champion in the 60 m,” Ashe said in a video interview with Mackenzie Hamilton on the school’s Twitter page.
The Nigerian runner has already broken several records and won medals while a student at the University of Tennessee, transferring to Auburn this season to complete his collegiate career.
Meanwhile, at the 2023 C‑USA Indoor Championships beginning Saturday in Birmingham, reigning champion Alaba Akintola will look to continue his strong form and chase additional records. The Middle Tennessee State University sophomore holds school records in the indoor 60 m and 200 m, as well as the outdoor 100 m and 200 m. In January, Akintola shattered a 20‑year‑old school record by running 6.59 seconds in the 60 m at the Commodore Challenge.
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