Track Rivalry – Okagbare, Osayomi to Fight Another Day

Duro Ikhazuagbe

27 June 2011

After retaining her 100m title at the just concluded 65th All Nigeria Athletics Championships in Calabar at the weekend, Blessing Okagbare is now focussed on doing well at both the IAAF World Championships and the All Africa Games.

To achieve her dream of emerging the fastest woman of the continent at the All Africa Games scheduled for Maputo, Mozambique in September the Beijing Olympic bronze medallist in the long jump will first have to overcome the threat of her compatriot, Damola Osayomi who is the double sprint defending champion.

Apart from the fact that Osayomi has clocked 10.99 this season, Okagbare was not convincing in the 11.22 photo finish with which she took the title in Calabar.

“I know I can do better than that. Don’t forget that I am just coming back after my surgery and the season is a long one with the World Championships and the All Africa Games ahead,” observed the Delta girl who last season set America NCAA sprint and long jump double record for University of Texas in El Paso.

Interestingly, while all attention seems to have been expectedly, focussed on the sprint, for Okagbare, improving on the silver she won at the 2007 All Africa Games in Algiers remains paramount.

“I am seriously looking forward to jumping a 7m. With that consistently, one can begin to look forward to getting invited to top meets around the world,” she noted. Chioma Ajunwa, Nigeria’ only individual Olympic gold medallist shared Okagbare’s sentiments.

“Blessing is capable of jumping a seven meters. I have watched her jump here and seen the potentials in her,” observed Ajunwa who shocked a packed field in Atlanta ’96 with a 7.12m to win the long jump gold.

The serving police Chief Superintendent however insists that for Okagbare to truly emerge one of the best jumpers in the world she would need to work extra hard.

“There are no hard and fast roads to success. To get to the top requires one to go the extra mile in both training and discipline. And I know with right encouragement from both the government and the corporate Nigeria Blessing is capable of repeating my feat in the long jump,” stressed Ajunwa on the stands of the U.J. Esuene Stadium watching the long jump event last Saturday.

The three-day championships that also serves as trials for selecting of athletes to represent Nigeria at both the All Africa Games and the World Championships was brought to befitting end with sprinters, Oludamola Osayomi and Obinna Metu making up for their 100m gold medal losses by winning the half lap gold.

Osayomi, who lost the 100m gold by 100th of a second to defending champion, Okagbare despite coming into the championships as the fastest Nigerian woman so far this year at 10.99 seconds ran 23.33 seconds to win the 200m ahead of USA-born Gloria Asunmu who ran 23.47 while Endurance Abinuwa of University of Texas in E l Paso, UTEP, in the USA picked the bronze medal with 23.52.

In the men’s version, Metu (20.84) outran Ukoli Elvis (21.22) to win the gold medal. Metu was denied the chance of winning the 100m gold for the fourth consecutive time on the opening day of the championships by Egwero Ogho-Oghene who ran 10.34 to edge the defending also by 100th of a second. Osayomi would later anchor the Nigeria 4x100m relay team made up of Gloria Asunmu, Blessing Okagbare, and Naomi Osazuwa to gold in the international relay races that climaxed the championships.

Metu was also in the men’s 4x100m team that also emerged victorious in a new season’s best time.

Both Osayomi and Metu expressed happiness at their return to the podium as Nigeria champions two days after they lost the 100m gold.

“I am happy I won the 200m.I would have loved it more if Blessing (Okagbare) had run in this race,” she said and refuted claims that she lost the 100m gold because she was looking for Blessing towards the finish line. “That is not true. I ran my race and wasn’t looking at what Blessing was doing. Anyway I have put the loss behind me and already looking forward to the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Daegu where I am the third Nigerian nay African woman to make the 100m finals. My dream is to make the final again where winning a medal will now be the only focus,” she said and promised to retain her double sprints title at the 10th All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique in September.

Metu believes his best is yet to come and promised to work harder to ensure he makes an impact in Daegu and Maputo. A new half marathon national record was set by Tokhe Christopher who ran 1:06.28 to erase the nine year old 1:10.43 record set by Umaru Mohammed in Brussels, Germany. In some other events decided on the last day, Ajoke Odumosu made up for her loss in the 400m hurdles by claiming the 400m hurdles in a new personal season’s best of 56.24.

The University of South Alabama, USA graduate is the defending champion and national record holder.

The championships was brought to a thrilling finish when the Governor of the state, Senator Liyel Imoke, accompanied by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal were introduced to many former Nigeria internationals led by Atlanta Olympics long jump gold medallist, Chioma Ajunwa, former African sprints queen, Mary Onyali Omagbemi, Africa and Nigeria’s 400m runner of all time, Falilat Ogunkoya-Omotayo and the two pride of Cross River athletics, Mercy Nku who won four gold medals at the second African junior championships in 1995 as well as the 100m gold at the All Africa Games in 1999 in South Africa and coach Emilia Edet who was a 100m hurdles at the 1973 All Africa Games hosted by Nigeria and a proud recipient of the IAAF Veterans’ Pin award in 2009 at the World Championships in Berlin, Germany.

AllAfrica – All the Time