- TIFFANY PORTER AND CINDY OFILI
Tiffany Porter (nee Ofili) and Cindy Ofili will be making their second international outing together at the Rio Olympic Games, after both competing at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing. And though they are best friends, the sisters would have to put their friendship aside as they go against each other in the 100m Hurdles in Rio.
Though both sisters were born and raised in the US, they have Great Britain citizenship through their mother and will be competing for Team GB. The older of the two, Tiffany (28) began representing Great Britain in 2010 and is the British Record holder in the event. She’s also won a number of medals including the 2014 European Championships title, and 2013 World Championships Bronze.
Cindy (22) joined Tiffany to compete for Great Britain last year, and the sisters did a 1-2 at the 2015 British Trials to earn slots to the World Championships. It was Cindy’s first official outing for Great Britain. The sisters once again did a 1-2 at the 2016 Trials to secure tickets to Rio, with Tiffany clocking 12.83s, while Cindy followed in 12.96s. Speaking about competing alongside her sister, Cindy said:
“I just love being able to stand next to her on the line and she pushes me in every way.” Tiffany added: “She’s my best friend and we’ve been close for 21 years since she’s been here, so I think even though we are competitors, and when we are on that track we are fierce competitors and we both want to win. But once we cross that line it’s like okay, you’re my sister again. I want to see her win.”
Tiffany had in the past, said that she would retire the day her kid sister beats her. “I get reminded of that every single day and I never will live that down”, says Tiffany. However, Cindy is now determined more than ever to beat her older sister: “That’s my goal and I think she knows that now, so she is realizing that she shouldn’t have said that, but we’ll see how the future rolls”.
Photo Credit: Toyin Oshodi
