March 29, 2016 By Sahr Morris Jr.
Sierra Leonean born and academic atandout, Ngozi Musa, a student at Harvard University, has broken the Sierra Leone national record for women in the 100 meters when she ran a time of 11.66 seconds at a meet in Fort Worth Texas.
Musa, who is considered an accomplished athlete at the global stage, is keen to improve on her time to be able to secure a qualifying time ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.
She once represented Sierra Leone at an IAAF World Junior Championships meet in Eugene, Oregon in 2014 and once held a personal best time of 11.75 seconds in the 100 meters – a time she shattered last weekend (18 March, 2016).
According to United States-based African Sports Media owner, Leslie Koroma, head of Sierra Leone Athletes in the Diaspora, Musa is also said to have run the second fastest time in the University’s history, as well as the fourth fastest in Ivy League school history.
Koroma said: “She had a very successful indoor campaign where she set a new personal best, with a time of 7.40 seconds in the 60 meters and also lowered her 200 meters time.
“With the 2016 outdoor season just starting out, it seems as if Ngozi is on pace to run the Olympic qualifier of 11.32 seconds, which will make her the second female athlete from Sierra Leone to ever achieve such a feat since Olympic qualifying standards were introduced, after World Champion Eunice Barber did it in 1996.”
Koroma believes Musa is set to make history for herself and for Sierra Leone at the Rio Olympics, which is looming large on the horizon. “Attending Harvard University, whether on academic or athletics scholarship, is no simple feat, because your academic standing has to be one of the best if not the best in the USA. Ngozi Musa is therefore an extremely academically and athletically gifted student/athlete,” he said.