Best Asian athlete: Nigeria’s negligence drove me to Qatar

Femi Ogunode, the Nigeria born athlete who currently represents Qatar and won the best Asian athlete award in 2015, says Nigeria’s unfair treatment drove him to become a Qatari athlete.

Ogunode made his international debut for Qatar at the 2010 Asian Games and won a 100 meters/400 meters double.

He won a career double at the Asian Games in 2014, this time in the 100 metres/200 metres, and set an Asian record of 9.93 seconds for the former event.

In this interview with TheCable, Ogunode talked about why he decided to run for Qatar and not his country of birth — Nigeria.

“I was in Nigeria before I came to Qatar. You know that I am from Ondo State and I represented the state for sometime. And I also ran for University of Ibadan where I qualified for the Olympics then,” he said.

“Along the line so many things went down. Lots of politics were played. I was not taken to the Olympics. In athletics, politics is involved. In Nigeria, you might have the fastest time, they don’t care. They will just bring in their own athletes.

“That was when I decided to pursue my dream and left Nigeria for Qatar.”

OGUNODE: I WILL NEVER RUN FOR NIGERIA AGAIN

“To be candid with you, it is not possible again because right now I am dedicated to Qatar. When my country of birth cannot be fair to me, they never appreciated what I have.

“No matter how fast you are, you need to train hard, you need good facilities and all that will enhance your speed. All that were never available for me while in Nigeria.

“But when I got to Qatar they took care of me, I have all facilities I need to keep performing well at my disposal. Trust me I can never run for Nigeria again. I am happy where I am here right now.

ON HIS TWO YEAR BAN FOR THE USE OF CLENBUTEROL

“It was just like Sharapova, the tennis athlete. I used a particular drug that has nothing to do with my performance on the track. I didn’t know.

“Just like for instance when you want to run sometimes you might just take lemon juice and water, whether distilled or some other kind of water but they are still water. But when you are tested and find some substances in your system they will still term it as drugs.

“So, I was just very unfortunate and there was nothing I could do. So, I just went out training without running. But happy to be back”

WINNING THE ASIAN BEST ATHLETE AWARD IN OCTOBER 2015

“It feel so great to have won the best Asian athlete award in the US last year. As an athlete you know what it means to win awards. It means hard work pays in getting whatever medal or award you win.

“It was not easy because I was just training for about a year or so without running in any tournament. So, it was hard work that paid off.”

OGUNODE BELIEVES USAIN BOLT IS BEATABLE 

“First and foremost, Usain Bolt is an athlete that I respect a lot in this industry and he has made a name for himself too. Every athlete in the industry is looking up to him, wanting to be like him.

“That does not make him unbeatable when it comes to athletics. Especially when you are in form. Anything can happen. So, anything is possible.”

Ogunode moved to Qatar in October 2009 and began international competition the following year. He won the 100 meters and 200 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 meters with personal bests of 20.43 seconds and 45.12 seconds, respectively.

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.

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

The Ondo-born athlete became the Asian champion in 200 metres, at Kobe, Japan. He equalled the Championships record (20.41 s) en route to gold.

He then did even better at the World Military 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).

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 seconds. He also won the 200 metres gold at Incheon.

He set a further Asian record at the 2015 Asian Athletics Championships by winning the 100 metres in 9.91 seconds, after breaking the championship record with a run of 9.97 seconds in the semi-finals.