Olympic and World Championships medalist, Blessing Okagbare is on course to cruise into the 15th World Championships in Athletics and the 11th All Africa Games both scheduled to hold this year.
The World Championships in Athletics, football’s equivalent of the World Cup, is expected to hold between August 22-30 in Beijing, China, while the All Africa Games, Africa’s mini-version of the Olympics, holds between September 4–19 in Brazzaville, Congo.
Nigerian athletes bidding to participate in both A-list events must earn their places by qualifying through the All Nigerian Open Athletics Championship, ending today at the Warri City Stadium in Delta State.
Being the only avenue through which they can earn their places in both upcoming competitions, no Nigerian athlete worth his or her salt shied away from the Warri trials, which began yesterday, with the likely lucky qualifiers for the World Championships and All Africa Games expected to start unfolding today.
One athlete who has an almost guaranteed chance of being at both looming competitions is Blessing Okagbare, who won two medals at the last Worlds in Moscow in 2013 and another two at the last edition of the All Africa Games in Maputo in 2011 but is not letting her guards down in her attempt to qualify.
Okagbare has since 2008, been Nigeria’s saviour in athletics at both the continental and world levels. On her own, she has won medals in the long jump, 100m, 200m and 4x110m women’s relay.
2014 was a remarkable year for the 26 years old Sapele-born runner at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She won the gold medals in the 100m and 200m, breaking the 100m games record of 10.91 seconds set by Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie12 years earlier at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
And with the Worlds and All Africa Games on the horizon, Okagbare is ready to explode and cement her name as the best Nigerian runner in this century.
“The target is to qualify for both competitions and I feel confident that my body is in good position to achieve this objective. It is the beginning of the journey, which I hope will end well”, Okagbare said on her twitter account.
The World Championships in Athletics, football’s equivalent of the World Cup, is expected to hold between August 22-30 in Beijing, China, while the All Africa Games, Africa’s mini-version of the Olympics, holds between September 4–19 in Brazzaville, Congo.
Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor reacts after winning the women’s 100m event at the Diamond League athletics meeting in Shanghai on May 17, 2015. AFP
Being the only avenue through which they can earn their places in both upcoming competitions, no Nigerian athlete worth his or her salt shied away from the Warri trials, which began yesterday, with the likely lucky qualifiers for the World Championships and All Africa Games expected to start unfolding today.
One athlete who has an almost guaranteed chance of being at both looming competitions is Blessing Okagbare, who won two medals at the last Worlds in Moscow in 2013 and another two at the last edition of the All Africa Games in Maputo in 2011 but is not letting her guards down in her attempt to qualify.
Okagbare has since 2008, been Nigeria’s saviour in athletics at both the continental and world levels. On her own, she has won medals in the long jump, 100m, 200m and 4x110m women’s relay.
2014 was a remarkable year for the 26 years old Sapele-born runner at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She won the gold medals in the 100m and 200m, breaking the 100m games record of 10.91 seconds set by Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie12 years earlier at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
And with the Worlds and All Africa Games on the horizon, Okagbare is ready to explode and cement her name as the best Nigerian runner in this century.
“The target is to qualify for both competitions and I feel confident that my body is in good position to achieve this objective. It is the beginning of the journey, which I hope will end well”, Okagbare said on her twitter account.
No comments:
Post a Comment