Femi Ogunode

Who is Femi Ogunode?

Femi Seun Ogunode is a Nigerian-born sprint athlete who competes internationally for Qatar.

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. 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.

He became the Asian champion in 200 metres, at Kobe, Japan. He equalled the Championship record - 20.41sec - 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. He served a two-year ban lasting until January 2014 for the use of the prohibited substance Clenbuterol.