In a new performance list for the 2023 indoor season, Rosemary Chukwuma is only the second athlete in the world to have attained such significant feat.
Speedster Rosemary Chukwuma has made a significant record list for the 2023 indoor season. The Nigerian is the second athlete in the world alongside Julien Alfred (7.00s and 22.56s) to have gone under 7.10s in the 60m and 23s in the 200m this year.
Chukwuma's progress in 2023 indoor season
The Texas Tech University junior has been in outstanding form since her season's debut at the Texas Tech Corky classic last month, where she clocked a then massive Personal Best (PB), School Record (SR), and world-leading time of 7.11s to win her qualifying heat and ran within the same time to win the final in 7.13s.
Then at the Red Raider Open a week later, she raced to the history books again, smashing her indoor PB of 23.49s with a new 22.99s to win the 200m final.
The time propelled her to No. 3 on the African all-time list, behind Favour Ofili (22.46s) and Murielle Ahoure (22.80s), making her the third female African athlete in history to go sub-23s indoors.
Still, on her exceptional early season form, the speedster erased her own 60m PB and SR of 7.11s, with a new time of 7.09s to win the 60m final at the Texas Tech Open and Multis. The time places her fifth on the Nigerian indoor all-time list and tied for seventh all-time in Africa.
And just last weekend, she sped to a faster 22.82s to win the 200m event at the Jarvis Scott Open in Lubbock, which smashed her lifetime best of 22.99s clocked two weeks ago and just 0.02s shy of Murielle Ahouré's second-fastest time of 22.80s in African history, as Favour Ofili leads the pack with her recently clocked African Record (AR) of 22.36s.
Chukwuma also broke the SR set in 2015 and is now the SR holder in the 60m and 200m indoors.
NCAA Indoor Championships
Alfred and Chukwuma will clash at the NCAA indoor championships, which bodes for a thrilling encounter athletics enthusiasts should expect between both ladies.