'I've never seen anyone move like him': Olympic sprinter making waves on U of R track team

Usheoritse “Dushos” Itsekiri is in his second season with the University of Regina track and field team. Itsekiri was a member of Nigeria’s Olympic team at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

This season, Itsekiri continues to prove he has Olympic talent as he is currently ranked first in U-Sports in the Canada for the 60 metre dash on an indoor track.

This past week he set a new personal best of 6.62 seconds.

“[It felt] electrifying and that’s the thing it’s electrifying because you never know when it’s going to come,” Itsekiri said on setting his new personal best. “I did the 300 [metre] and I was exhausted from it. I didn’t have anything left in the tank for the 60. But I was like, ‘I love this track, I had a PB last year here and that’s why I come here. So I was like, oh go for it’.”

“I went for it and it just came, it didn’t feel as fast as I would think but it did feel good,” he laughed.

“There is just nothing like Dushos, his personality, his athleticism, I’ve never seen anyone move like him,” Chad Kichula, University of Regina’s track and field interim head coach, told CTV News.

“He is just a competitor and I don’t know if we’ll ever see the likes of him again.”

Itsekiri grew up in Nigeria where he began as a soccer player before he discovered his love for track.

“We played soccer probably every day and I was always the fastest person on the pitch so whenever we would do our inter-house sports in Nigeria I would always win or come second. I was always a fast guy. My brother hooked me up with a team in a stadium. I went there and met the coach and since then it’s been a sweet, jolly ride,” Itsekiri explained.

Itsekiri came to Regina in January of last year. Prior to his move, he had never even been to Canada before.

“My first time surviving the winter I got a couple of heaters in the house,” he joked. “It’s been really good. The people around here are really nice and they’ve made it nice for me.”

In his first season with U of R he definitely made a mark. He earned a gold in the 60 metre dash at the 2022 U Sports Track and Field Championships. An event he had also won gold in at the Canada West Championships.

He added bronze to his medal collection with a third place finish in the 4 x 200 metre relay at Canada West as well.

• Download the CTV News app to get local alerts sent to your device

The second year Masters of Engineering student qualified for the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics after hitting the standard time at the African Games that year.

He said it was a day he will never forget. Itsekiri plans on making a run for the 2024 games in Paris.

“I saw how things went in 2021 and I’m trying to get everything settled. 2024 is the goal and just try and get there. Try and make a statement, try and make it count this time,” he said.

Itsekiri is not the only member of the U of R track team that has their sights set on the Olympics.

First year business student and team member, Storm Zablocki, who hails from Prince Albert has already made a name for himself in U Sports.

Zablocki is currently ranked third in the 60m with a personal best of 6.74.

“I just wanted to do the best I could for my first year. Not a lot of expectation going in, knowing that it was a big adjustment but you know I’ve been happy with it so far,” Zablocki said.

When asked about seeing his name at the top of the U Sports rankings, Zablocki noted the work it took to get there.

“Definitely kind of a relief almost. I definitely worked hard for it and just keep moving forward,” he said.

“He’s a very polite young man, hardworking, and very focused,” Kichula said, referring to Zablocki. “A lot of athletes, they get caught up in times and you don’t want to just get caught up in statistics. Storm doesn’t really seem to focus on that. He just wants to run his race, which is really important.”

However Zablocki is focused on what it will take to get him to the international level.

“The Olympics are my number one [goal] since I’ve been a kid,” Zablocki explained.

It helps that he is training alongside Olympian Itsekiri, who acts as a source of inspiration, according to Zablocki.

“I think Dushos has been like my number one guy I look up to right now. Even amongst all of the other professionals,” he told CTV News.

The duo will compete at the Canada West Track and Field Championships in Saskatoon later this month and the U Sport Championships in March before they gear up for the outdoor season.