Nigerian Female Sprinter, Okagbare Breaks 22-Year-Old African Record

Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor

Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor on Saturday raced home first in record-smashing fashion in the 200m event at the Wes Kittley Invitational at the Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas, USA to not only become the world leader in the event so far this year but also smashed the 22.07 seconds African record set by her compatriot Mary Onyali some 22 years ago at the Wetklasse Grand Prix in Zurich, Switzerland.

Cierra White followed in second place in 23.26secs while Natasha McDonald settled for third in 24.23secs.

Apart from becoming the new African record, Okagbare’s winning time also becomes the new national record in the women’s 200m. Okagbare’s previous personal best in the event was 22.23secs was set at the 2014 Eugene Diamond League.

Following her latest exploit, it means that Okagbare now holds the Nigerian records in the women’s 100m (10.79secs) and 200m. Okagbare did not compete in the indoor season, which started in January. The Wes Kittley Invitational was her first competition of the season.

The 26-year-old made the list of the 37 athletes selected by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria to participate at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, which begins on April 4.






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