At least three Nigerian athletes had a date with history on Saturday, June 3rd, as they secured qualification for the forthcoming London 2017 World Championships, across different time zones and continents.
Having already qualified for the 200m in April after racing to a Season’s Best (SB) of 22.87s, Beijing 2008 Silver medallist Blessing Okagbare surpassed the entry standard for the women’s 100m after winning her race at the Meeting Pro Athlé de Marseille on Saturday.
The Moscow 2013 double medallist clocked an SB of 11.17s to finish ahead of Frenchwoman Carolle Zahi who returned a time of 11.34s, and Great Britain’s Asha Phillip (11.43s) at the Stade Delort.
Whilst Okagbare was achieving this feat in Marseille, US-based sprinter Margaret Bamgbose became the second female quartermiler to qualify for London 2017 as she dominated the 400m field at the IAAF World Challenge in Rio.
Bamgbose, a semifinalist at the Rio Olympics, raced to an SB of 51.57s to defeat Brazil’s Geisa Aparecida Coutinho (51.91s) and teammate Patience Okon George (52.27s), while Jamaica’s Christine Day placed 4th with 52.29s.
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Former Commonwealth Champion Tosin Oke was also in action at the meeting and leapt to an SB of 16.67m to follow homeboy Mateus De Sa (16.87m), as Paulo Sérgio Oliveira finished in 3rd place with his distance of 16.49m.
Home-based athlete Yinka Ajayi was the first quartermiler to hit the exact entry standard for the World Championships when she clocked a Personal Best (PB) of 52.10s in Baku last month, before lowering her time to 51.59s to win the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) / Dynamic Sporting Solutions Meet held in Abuja.
Samson Nathaniel raced to a Personal Best (PB) of 45.23s at the Abuja National Stadium on Saturday to secure his spot as the first male quartermiler to run the qualifying standard for the World Championships.
Reigning Commonwealth Long Jump Champion Ese Brume is still in pursuit of the qualifying mark of 6.75m in order to make it to the biennial championships.
The African Champion competed at the Adidas Boost Boston Games on Sunday where she placed 3rd with a mark of 6.50m. The event was won by Great Britain’s Shara Proctor with 6.73m, while Brittney Howell of Jamaica followed with 6.55m.
Other Nigerian athletes who have qualified for their respective events in London include Oluwatobiloba Amusan who clocked PBs of 12.63s in the 100m Hurdles and 22.92s in the 200m earlier this year, and Lindsey Lindley whose time of 12.90s surpasses the entry mark of 12.98s in the 100m Hurdles.
