Okagbare sets to break history
Nigerian athlete, Blessing Okagbare is set to seek another piece of history as the first Nigerian nay African woman to break 22 seconds when she lines up for the 200m event at in Monaco which is the ninth leg of the money-spinning IAAF Diamond League meeting.
She has competed in the half-lap race thrice this season, starting with an uninspiring 23.14 seconds run at the opening leg of the Diamond League meetings in Doha last May.
Also the thirty-year-old improved to 22.58 seconds 18 days later at the 2019 Nanjing World Challenge in Nanjing, China.
Okagbare blew away the field late last month at Stanford in California where she ran 22.05 seconds to win the Pre-Fontaine Classics ahead of British wonder, Dina Asher-Smith and 2016 double Olympic sprints champion, Elaine Thompson from Jamaica.
The time is Okagbare’s second-fastest after the 22.04 seconds she ran in Abilene, Texas, USA last year March to set a new African record in the event.
However, the elegant and beautifully built Okagbare will seek to become the first African woman and 29th in the world to break the barrier today.
Okagbare is the joint third with 14 points in the 200m Diamond League standing and victory on Friday will ensure she qualifies for the final of the event on August 29 at the Weltklasse Diamond League meeting in Zurich.
