One Nigerian athlete to watch at the upcomingLondonOlympic is Blessing Okagbare, who will compete in the women’s long jump and in the women’s 100 meter dash.
The 23 – year old Okagbare, a bronze medallist in the long jump at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, won gold in the event at the recent African Championships in Benin, as well as silver in the 100 meters.
She looks to be on top form ahead of theLondongames. Running in lane 3 last Saturday at the London Grand Prix, Okagbare beat World Champion Carmelita Jeter of theUnited States, to win the 100 meters in 11.01 seconds.
Okagbare did dedicate her victory inLondonto Emmanuel Uduaghan, the Governor of Delta state, who gave her the financial assistance and to other athletes when they trained recently in Oghara, Delta state.
Blessing has also trained in theUnited States. She was a Star for theUniversityofTexasatEl Paso’s track and field program, winning national titles in both the long jump and the 100 meters dash.
Track and field action will be held at the Olympic Stadium inEast London. The women’s 100 meter dash final will be August 4 and women’s long jump August 8.
Okagbare has promised that she can rekindle the exciting moments she had at the London Grand Prix in the London Olympics to get her hands on a medal for Nigeria, “yes I can do it” she said.
