Despite not beginning the Diamond League
season in Doha, Qatar last week, Blessing Okagbare got her season
underway with a win at the 2015 Shanghai Diamond League on Sunday.
Okagbare, who won the long jump and 200m
events in Shanghai last year, arrived at a time of 10.98 seconds ahead a
star-studded line-up that included Olympic champion, Shelly Ann
Fraser-Pryce, and other Jamaicans and Americans.
USA’s Tori Bowie came second after
finishing with a personal best of 11.07 secs, Michelle-Lee Ahye of
Trinidad and Tobago, who clocked 11.13 secs,was third, while Veronica
Campbell-Brown was fourth with 11.22 secs and Fraser-Pryce finished
fifth in 11.25secs.
Sunday’s result was an improvement for
Okagbare this season after she finished second in a time of 11.05 secs
at the Jamaica International Invitational last week.
With the end of the Shanghai meet on Sunday, the Diamond League series will resume on May 30 in Eugene, USA.
“My race was pretty good,” Okagbare said
after the event. “It is not easy to compete with the best of the world –
but I won. I focused on my start. Normally I don’t have the best start,
but now I was leading from the beginning.”
Fraser-Pryce was not overly concerned with her 11.25 opener.
“It was one of those races,” she said. “I have time to get it right.”
Asked if she would now have her work cut
out in defending her title in Beijing later in the year, Fraser-Pryce
said, “I always have my work cut out. No one hands anything to you.”
Triple jumper, Tosin Oke, has commended
the organisers of the Doha Diamond League. Oke, who went out in the
first round at the Doha meet, attributed his performance to rustiness.
He tweeted on Sunday, “The @dldoha was
truly world class from the organisation, medical staff through to the
competition and performances. It was great to be a part.
“I did my best ever opener in round 1,
but did not get to show my worth that day due to being rusty. I am
looking forward to the next one.”
In Port Harcourt, the Athletics
Federation of Nigeria will take a major step in its plan to develop
young talents and also provide a good training environment for star
athletes who are based in the country as it commissions a High
Performance Centre at the University of Port Harcourt on May 25.
The centre which is equipped with
standard facilities also has quality accommodation for athletes. The
President of the Confederation of Africa Athletics Hamad Kalkaba Malboum
and the AFN president Solomon Ogba are expected to declare the centre
open.
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