Nigerian sprinter Favour Ofili says therapy and close friends helped her rebuild her life after two years marked by Olympic disappointment, administrative disorganisation, and an unsuccessful attempt to change her sporting nationality to Türkiye.
Speaking in an interview with Athletic Heat at the Prefontaine Classic, Ofili revealed that she sought professional help to work through a period she described as the most difficult of her career.
"You all don't know the mental work that I've put in for the past two years to be here again competing and, most importantly, happy with myself again," Ofili said.
"Nobody will ever understand because it did not happen to you or anyone close to you.
"I've gone to therapy, surrounded myself with close friends that really matter to me and care for me and I have my coach there that supports me."
The 22-year-old said the process has changed the way she approaches both athletics and life: "For the past three months, I've been taking things one day at a time.
"I'm not worrying about anything I can't control anymore. Whatever God wants, let it be. As long as I'm healthy, that's what matters."
Ofili's grievances trace to Tokyo. She qualified for the delayed 2020 Games but was one of 10 Nigerian track and field athletes ruled ineligible by the Athletics Integrity Unit after the country failed to meet minimum out-of-competition drug-testing requirements.
The 10 represented the largest group from any nation on the ineligible list, and the athletes staged a protest at the Olympic Village.
Three years later, she qualified for the women's 100 metres at the Paris Olympics, only to discover shortly before the event that the AFN and the Nigeria Olympic Committee had failed to enter her for the event.
"I qualified, but those with the AFN and NOC failed to enter me," she wrote on social media at the time as a heartbreaking video of the sprinter sobbing disconsolately in the mixed zone while being comforted by journalists, went viral.
She did compete in the 200-meter event at that Paris Games where she reached the final and finished sixth.
A ministerial panel later indicted AFN Secretary General Rita Mosindi and Technical Director Samuel Onikeku, and recommended that the federation pay Ofili 8 million naira, about $5,000, in symbolic compensation.
Ofili has said she received no compensation and no apology.
The aftermath eventually led Ofili to seek a transfer of allegiance to Turkiye.
In September 2025, Ofili confirmed she wanted to compete for Turkiye, citing years of frustration with Nigerian officials. The Turkish Athletics Federation filed her application as one of 11.
That application was rejected by World Athletics Nationality Review Panel last April, ruling that the batch formed part of a government-funded recruitment drive that threatened the integrity of international competition and the development of homegrown talent.
The panel noted her safety and welfare concerns and referred them to World Athletics safeguarding processes, but found she had not established the close and credible link to Turkey required under the rules.
She had been granted Turkish citizenship in May 2025 and signed a club contract worth $10,000 a month through July 2028. Turkiye has said it would challenge the ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Rather than continue to dwell on those setbacks, Ofili said the months since the ruling had steadied her.
"The past three months have been the best for me," she said. "I've gotten a lot done that you can't even imagine. I've done a lot for myself and for my future. I'm at peace.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect, but I'm working towards it and I'm at peace."
Ofili also revealed she has deliberately distanced herself from Nigerian athletics administrators, despite being named in Nigeria's Commonwealth Games team and has had no communication with federation officials since the aftermath of the Paris Olympics.
"The federation says a lot of stuff, but they don't know what's going on inside," she said.
"I've not been in contact with any of them since 2024. I don't know where they get the information that Favour said this or Favour said that. For me to be at peace, you've got to get away from things that don't give you peace or that drain you.
"I haven't been in contact with them since after the Paris investigation they said they did. At the end of the day, the same people are still in position, so I don't know where they're getting their information from."
Ofili also credited her coach at LSU Dennis Shraver for helping her navigate the difficult period even as he has come under fire from Nigeria athletics officials.
"They've been coming for my coach, but all thanks to coach Shraver," she said. "Honestly, I don't know what I would have done without him."
Having to navigate the emotional toll of the past two years has also changed how she views outside opinions.
"The Favour of 2026 doesn't care what people say," she said. "In 2018, I always wanted to know what my coach would say, what my dad would say, what my teammates would say.
"I don't care now. They're not the ones running. I'm the one running. If you're truly my fans, you'll support whatever decision I make."
Part of the growth that has come from navigating these setbacks for the sprinter has been learning to prioritize herself above all else, a mindset that has allowed her to enjoy competing again.
"My mental (health) comes first," she said. "They're not the ones racing. I'm the one racing.
"At the end of the day, it's me. I know what's going on inside. Every day I come out, I'm proving myself because it's me against me.
"I'm paid to come out and race. Regardless of what I'm going through, I still have to show up."
On the track, Ofili has stepped into the 100 meters to test herself against the fastest women in the sport and came out satisfied with her performance.
"This is literally the first time I've had the opportunity to race with most of those athletes, because I don't get many chances to compete against them in the 100 metres," she said.
"I still have a few things to correct, but I'm happy with the race. I'm really, really happy. To run 22.1 already this season is great."
But her program remains built around the longer sprint, with ranking points a key focus: "This year, we're focusing more on the 200 metres, but when I got the chance to come here and run the 100, I took it.
"The 200 is the main focus because you have to score points to stay up there. At the end of the day, I'm just happy to be here competing."