Blessing Okagbare-Ighotegunor made a return to the Long Jump with a 4th place finish at the Lausanne Diamond League; her leap of 6.66m is a Season’s Best (SB). This is the first attempt in the event for the former African champion in the 2015 season; it remains to be seen if she will combine the 100m/200m/Long Jump at the World Championships like she did in Moscow 2013.
USA champion and world leader, Tianna Bartoletta was unstoppable as she maintained her place on the top spot with a jump of 6.86m, and was followed closely by Great Britain’s Shara Proctor with 6.79m. Canada’s Christabel Nettey who has been consistent this season finished 3rd with 6.68m.
The Beijing 2008 Bronze medallist was initially billed to combine the 200m with the jumps but eventually pulled out of the race, much to the dismay of Nigerian fans who were relishing a clash with Olympic champion, Allyson Felix and European 100m/200m GOLD medallist, Dafne Schippers.
Felix won the race with 22.09s but not without a fight from Dutch rival, Dafne Schippers who followed her down to the finishing line, clocking 22.29s, while Cote d’Ivoire’s Murielle Ahouré took 3rd with 22.36s despite a quick take-off from the blocks.
The second Nigerian interest at the Lausanne Diamond League, Regina George finished 6th in the women’s 400m where she returned a time of 51.99s. This is the second IAAF meeting for the Nigerian after she won her event with an SB of 51.30s at the World Challenge in Kawasaki in May.
However she was no match for Bahamas’s Shaunae Miller who stunned Olympic champion, Sanya Richards-Ross to take the race in 49.92s. Richards-Ross, who is still trying to come to terms with her inexplicable loss of form at the US trials, posted 51.12s while Jamaica’s Novlene Williams-Mills placed 3rd with 51.15. Great Britain’s national champion, Anyika Onuora was 4th with 51.26s.
George has a tough battle on her hands as far as reclaiming her Nigerian title is concerned, after Patience Okon George posted a Personal Best (PB) of 50.76s last weekend in Switzerland. Okon George’s time is the fastest by a Nigerian since Falilat Ogunkoya ran 50.50s in 2001. Regina, a two-time national champion, finished 4th at the Nigerian trials last year, which was won by reigning African champion, Folashade Abugan.
Also in action in the women’s High Jump was national Record holder in the event, Doreen Amata. The two-time All Africa Games champion has had a topsy-turvy season, winning the Drake Relays and IAAF World Challenge in Senegal with a near life-time best of 1.94m.
However the reverse was the case at the New York Diamond League where she was unable to record a jump. She finished 9th in Lausanne with a mark of 1.85m. The event was won by Anna Chicherova with a World Lead (WL) of 2.03m as former No.1, Ruth Beitia finished 2nd with 1.94m, which is 6cms of her SB of 2.00m. Get the highlights of the Track events in Lausanne here and the Field events where Christian Taylor upstaged Pedro Pablo Pichardo to win the Triple Jump.
