Immediately after his win was confirmed, the Urhobo-born sprinter broke into the traditional dance of his tribe.
Nigerian sprinter Divine Oduduru broke into full ‘Urhobo' dance after he won the 200m title for Texas Tech University at the 2018 National Collegiate of Athletics Association (NCAA) championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Oduduru continued with his amazing performances of 2018 with a 20.28s finish in Eugene, Oregon to win the 200m title for Texas Tech on Saturday, June 9.
Immediately after his win was confirmed, the Urhobo-born sprinter broke into a traditional dance done by flaring the arms in rhythm.
The dance is very common among the Urobos, a tribe in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria.
“I told God, I said ‘God, if you make me win this race, I’m going to dance a dance that shows the Lord that I’m grateful,’” the 21-year-old is quoted to say by the Twitter handle of his school Texas Tech.
“It’s the dream of every student-athlete to get to the national meet,” Oduduru also told the school’s official website.
“Coming over and winning it, I’m very happy. I want to say thank you to my coach and my teammates and everyone who made today a reality. I appreciate God for having those people around me.”
Oduduru joins the great
Oduduru has thus joined such Nigeria greats as Olapade Adenike, George Ogbeide, Clement Chukwu, Blessing Okagbare and Tobiloba Amusan among others who have been crowned NCAA champions.
Oduduru in 2016 was admitted to Texas Technology University in the United States on scholarship.
Now a sophomore, Oduduru has been a hit at the University in 2018.
In February, he smashed Texas Tech college’s 20-year-old 200-meter indoor record with a time of 20.49s to win the 200m at the Texas Tech Track & Field Red Raider Invitational.
He also broke the school’s 14-year 100m record with a finish of 10.10s to emerge the winner in a 100m invitational event in April.