By: Gracious Akujobi Nigeria’s current track queen, Blessing Okagbare on Friday bounced back from her 100m heartbreak, by adding the bronze medal of the women’s 200m to the silver she won earlier in the long jump.
Okagbare, who had gone into the 14th IAAF World Championships in Moscow as one of the favourites in the 100m finished a disappointing sixth when the race was run a few days ago. Captain of the Nigerian team
However, on Friday night she came good when she ran the race of her life in the longer distance. She might have even won a silver medal, but the judges gave the photo finish she had with Murielle Ahoure to the Ivorian, who had also earlier won silver in the 100m.
The honours, however, went to Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who made it a sprint double, as Olympic champion Allyson Felix failed to finish because of an injury.
Fraser-Pryce, second behind Felix at the London Games, clocked 22.17 seconds to finish ahead of Murielle Ahoure of the Ivory Coast and Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare (both 22.32).
Felix dropped to the track early in the race grabbing her torn right hamstring.
The United States won the men’s 4x400m ahead of Jamaica and Russia.
Menkov took gold in the men’s long jump
David Verburg, Tony McQuay, Arman Hall and LaShawn Merritt won the race in two minutes, 58.71 seconds. Jamaica clocked 2:59.88 and Russia 2:59.90, with Great Britain fourth in 3:00.88.
Three-time champion Felix was chasing a record nine gold medals but she is unlikely to feature in the American team for the final of the women’s 4x100m.
Fraser-Pryce, 26, joins East Germans Silke Gladisch (1987) and Katrin Krabbe (1991) in completing a World Championships sprint double.
Russia’s Aleksandr Menkov won the men’s long jump with a leap of 8.56m on his fifth attempt, a personal best and the longest in the world this year.
Ignisious Gaisah of the Netherlands set a new national record of 8.29 to finish second, ahead of Mexico’s Luis Rivera (8.27) in third.
Defending world and Olympic champion Tatyana Lysenko also delighted the home fans by winning the women’s hammer with a championship record of 78.80m.
Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk, the 2009 champion, finished second with a throw of 78.46, while China’s Zhang Wenxiu threw 75.58 to finish third.
David Storl of Germany retained his men’s shot put title. His winning throw of 21.73m was initially flagged for a foul but later reinstated.
Meanwhile, Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi has congratulated her for putting up another decent performance at the ongoing IAAF World Championship in Russia, winning a bronze medal in the 200metre race.
Nigeria is now placed 21st on the medal table, higher than countries such as Italy (23rd), Australia (29th) and Japan (29th).
Abdullahi praised Blessing for her hard work, resilience and great attitude. “She has got what it takes to be a world champion and I have no doubt that in time she is going to dominate the world in her disciplines.
“I congratulate her and the Nigerian team for breaking the 14 year jinx of not winning any medal at IAAF Championships. I believe that with the level of support we have received from Mr. President and the systems we are putting in place, Nigerians will see significant improvement in our performances athletics competitions and in sports generally.
“I wish Blessing and the rest of the team the very best in the remaining events,” he said.