http://makingofchampions.net/2014/08/11/six-out-of-six-for-nigeria-as-african-championship-100-metres-enters-final/

All six Nigerian athletes that were entered for the men and women’s 100m sailed through the heats and semis on Day 1 of the African Senior Athletics Championships in Marrakech, Morocco, to qualify for the final of the event on Monday night

In the women’s semis, Lawreta Ozoh who only returned to action after observing a two year ban, and is competing in the individual 100m for the first time since her return, took third in the first semi with 11.58s. The Commonwealth Games Silver Medallist (in the 4x100m) went against World Championships Double Silver Medallist, Murielle Ahouré who took the heat with 11.19s, the fastest time in the semis.

Commonwealth double gold medallist, Blessing Okagbare won Heat 2 with 11.20s to set up an exciting encounter with the Ivorian in today’s final. Gloria Asumnu placed third in 11.44s. Another Ivorian, Ta Lou Gonezie also secured a place in the last eight with 11.25s, as she came second behind Okagbare. Monday’s race therefore will promises to be a Nigeria versus Cote d’Ivoire affair, which will no doubt set the tracks of the Grande de Stade Marrakech alight, and perhaps, send some records tumbling.

Commonwealth Games finalist, Mark Jelks ran the fastest time in the Semis of the men’s 100 metres and now looks favoured to clinch his first African title. Jelks easily dominated the race, and even had enough time to look behind and gauge his opponents’ speed as he crossed the finish line. The Nigerian champion breasted the tape in 10.16s, beating South Africa’s Akani Simbine to first place in Heat 2. However he has to watch out for Cote d’Ivoire’s Wilfried Koffi Hua who won Heat 1 in 10.17s, and was followed by Monzavous Edward who came second in 10.38s. Ogho-Oghene Egwero was second in Heat 3 in 10.37s, in a photo finish with South Africa’s Simon Magakwe who won it in 10.36s.

Nichole Denby looks good enough for gold in the women’s 100m hurdles, having won Heat 1 (13.20s) ahead of Senegal’s Gnima Faye (13.45s) and Rikenette Steenkamp (13.47s) of South Africa. Heat 2 threw up a surprise in the person of Lindsay Weyinme who competed for Nigeria and was second with 13.39s behind Cote d’ Ivoire’s Rosvitha Bodjiho Okou who led with 13.18s. Conspicuously missing was Ugonna Ndu who was expected to make an appearance at the African Championships for the first time.

Noah Akwu was the sole Nigerian qualifier for the Semis of the men’s 400m, having finished ninth out of the 26 athletes that competed in the heats. He was second in Heat 2 with 46.88s as Botswana’s Onakabets Nkobolo took the lead with 46.78s. In fact all three semis were won by Botswana; Pako Seribe sailed to victory in Heat 1 while African Record Holder, Isaac Makwala sealed the deal in Heat 3 with the fastest time of 45.87s. A Botswana 1-2-3 would not be out of place going by this scenario.

Unfortunately, one of Nigeria’s new American recruits, Robert Simmons was disqualified for a false start in his 2nd race for Team Nigeria, after also not having completed his heat at the Commonwealth Games, where he pulled up injured after 200 metres. He’s not had the best start to his Nigeria career, and some might say that he has not justified his inclusion in the team, after not having competed in the Nigerian Trials in Calabar in June. Current Nigerian Champion Isah Salihu finished 4th is his heat in 47.12s, and 17th in the final rankings, thereby narrowly missing out on the last fastest losers’ spot in the Semis.

Queen Obisesan missed out a place on the podium as she finished fourth in the women’s hammer throw with 59.99m while Stephen Mozia also experienced the same dilemma in the men’s shot put event with 17.65m. The second Nigerian interest in the shot put, Augustine Nwoye took seventh position with 16.90m in his debut at the African Championships.

https://makingofchampions.net/2014/08/09/commonwealth-champion-ese-brume-set-to-become-africas-long-jump-queen/

Nigeria’s emerging long jump queen, Ese Brume may be heading for her first title in the African Senior Athletics Championships, going by her exploits at the recently ended Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where she won the GOLD medal, much to the surprise of keen athletics observers around the world!

Brume is not a stranger to winning titles though, as she won the Long Jump and took Silver in the Triple Jump at the African Junior Championships in Mauritius last year. She is the reigning National Sports Festival Champion, a feat which brought her to national limelight in 2012. She also emerged 2014 Nigerian champion at the National Trials with a PB of 6.68m set in Calabar.

However, her outing in Glasgow stunned most observers as Brume, who was at the bottom of the qualifiers at the IAAF World Junior Championships with 5.18m only a week earlier, suddenly transformed into the Commonwealth Champion with a jump of 6.56m. Her performance in the Qualifying rounds in Glasgow did little to hint at her potential to win the title, as she only just qualified for the final in 12th with a distance of 6.29m.

In the final, the home nations’ favourite for the title, England’s Shara Proctor suffered an injury while attempting her first jump, which ruled her out of the competition, thus paving way for the Nigerian sensation to clinch her first Commonwealth title. Hence the Delta State athlete emerged as one of the surprise Champions of the tournament, following the absence of 2013 World Silver Medallist and Commonwealth’s No.2 this year, Blessing Okagbare, who would have been favourite to win if she had competed, going by her pedigree in the event.

With Okagabre, Africa’s No. 1 Long Jumper, also not listed for the Long Jump at these African Championships, she seems set not to defend her African Long Jump Title which she won at the last two editions, most recently with a Championship Record of 6.96m in Benin Republic in 2012. That notwithstanding, Nigeria still looks likely to clinch at least two medals in the event, with the participation of both Ese Brume and Chinazom Amadi, Nigeria’s No. 3 and African No. 4 in the event, with 6.39m this season.

Can Brume jump her way into the history books by becoming the Reigning National, African (both Senior and Junior) and Commonwealth Long Jump Champion all in one swoop? Watch out for her as the 19th African Senior Athletics Championships take off from August 10th to 14th!

Long Jump Women’s Schedule: August 11th, Qualification Rounds at 10am, August 12th, Final at 8.10pm

(NB: This program is liable to change according to the number of participants and the local conditions)

CFCfan: I reckon that Blessing will clinch the sprint double in Morocco. She's in sizzling form now.

Yeah I hope so...Ahoure got the better of her twice when it mattered most last year but Blessing's PBs are better than the Ivorien's (especially in the 100m 10.79s vs 10.91s). The only unknown is what kind of form Ahoure is in, because the last time we saw her race was about 3 weeks ago, before the C'wealth Games, and then she beat Blessing again, even though they were given the same time then (10.98s) - who wins this time?

We only have to wait until Monday to find out!

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/08/08/divine-oduduru-200m-world-junior-silver-medallist-vying-for-african-crown/

Nigeria’s Divine Oduduru first came to reckoning as the sprint double champion of the maiden edition of the African Youth Athletics Championship (AYAC) which was held last year in Warri, Delta State. However, he has not looked back since then and is ready to prove that he has come of age as he gets set to make his debut in the African Senior Championships holding from August 10th to 14th in Morocco.

The Delta State athlete has remained consistent and has closely been on the heels of his seniors, if not surpassing them in recent times. Oduduru ran the fastest 200m by a Nigerian last season, posting a time of 21.13secs in the semis of the IAAF World Youth (U-18) Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine even though he didn’t make it to the podium.

It was a different story this year however, going by the scorching (thought wind-assisted) 20.25s he clocked recently at the IAAF World Junior (U-20) Championships in Oregon, which was good enough for a Silver medal, and incidentally turned out to be Nigeria’s only medal at the championships! His time also ranks as one of the top five fastest times run by a Nigerian (unofficially, since it is not valid for record purposes due to the strong tailwind. This feat followed his outstanding performance at the National Trials where he won the 200 title easily in 20.87s in his debut outing at the competition.

He is bound to face stiff competition from Africa’s No.1 in the event this year, Botswana’s Isaac Makwala who has been in great form this season. The more experiened sprinter breasted an astonishing 19.96secs in Switzerland last month barely ninety minutes after setting an African record of 44.01s in the 400m. Other contenders are Lesotho’s Mosito Lehata, Africa’s No.2 with 20.36s, Akani Simbine of South Africa who is No.3 with 20.37s, followed by team mate, Ncincihli Titi (20.41s).

Oduduru comes to the competition as the continent’s joint No.7 with a PB of 20.66s set in the semi-finals of the World Juniors, and it will be a breath of fresh air to see the GOLD medal to return to Nigeria eight years after Uchenna Emedolu won it, while Noah Akwu picked a Bronze medal at the last edition of the championship, which was held in the Republic of Benin two years ago!

200m Men’s Schedule: August 13th – 10.10am, Round 1, 7.00pm – Semis, August 14th, 7pm – Final

(NB: This program is liable to change according to the number of participants and the local conditions)

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/08/08/abugan-nigerias-400m-champion-to-face-teammates-for-african-title/

The absence of Defending African 400m Champion Amantle Montsho, has paved the way for Nigerian Champion, Folashade Abugan, to win her first continental title when the 19th African Senior Championships take off from August 10 to 14 in Marrakech, Morocco.

Botswana’s former world champion, and 2010 Commonwealth champion, was dethroned in Glasgow after she finished in fourth place behind the Jamaican trio of Stephanie McPherson, Novlene Williams-Mills and Christine Day. However she tested positive for a banned stimulant immediately following that race and has been provisionally suspended.

This development is now likely to result in a Nigerian 1-2-3 as Abugan and her teammates, Patience Okon George and Omolara Omotosho, who are all in Africa’s Top 5 list this season, will now be the favourites for the podium positions in Marrakech. For now, Montsho is top of the continental list with 50.37s, with Abugan (51.21s), Patience George (51.29s), Regina George (51.30s) and Omotosho (51.56s) completing the Top 5 (Regina will not be in Marrakech, following the injury she sustained during last week’s Commonwealth Games).

Incredibly this could be the first time that Nigeria sweeps the medals in the women’s 400m at the African Championships since 1990, when Fatima Yusuf, Charity Opara and Emily Odoemenam took to the podium, and would be the first Nigerian victory in the event since 1998, when 400m African Record Holder Falilat Ogunkoya won an incredible 200/400m double with then Championship Records of 22.22s and 50.07s respectively! Incidentally Abugan claimed Silver in 2008 and Bronze in 2010, both times behind Montsho who won GOLD on each of those occasions.

Abugan has been consistent this season, and was a member of the Bronze winning 4x400m team at the IAAF World Relays in the Bahamas in May. She put up an impressive performance to dethrone two-time winner, Regina George, at the National Trials in June and then anchored the 4x400m team to a Commonwealth Silver medal in Glasgow just last week. She was the only one of Nigeria’s ‘Fantastic Four’ to reach the individual 400m Final in Glasgow where she finished 5th, and she will be the athlete to beat in Morocco!

That said, Okon George and Omotosho are bound to give Abugan a good fight for the title, noting that the trio also swept the medals at the National Trials in Calabar, and were also members of the Silver winning team in Glasgow and Bronze Medallists in the Bahamas. A Nigeria 1-2-3 is definitely on the cards ahead of the championships in Morocco.

Women’s 400m Schedule: August 10 – Round 1 at 6.10pm, August 11th – Semis at 7.50pm, August 12th – Final at 7.00pm

(NB: This program is liable to change according to the number of participants and the local conditions)

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/08/07/nigerias-fastest-man-mark-jelks-aiming-to-become-africas-fastest-man/

Just two months ago, the name Mark Jelks was largely unheard of in Nigeria, but that was before he arrived in Calabar for the National Athletics Championships in June. That was where Jelks announced his arrival as Nigeria’s new fastest man, as he completely dominated the field on his way to winning the highly coveted men’s 100 metres title. On that occasion, Jelks beat former Champions Ogho-Oghene Egwero and Obinna Metu in dominant fashion, as it became clear that over the next couple of years, he will likely be the athlete to beat as far as the men’s 100m on the home front is concerned!

In just a few days from now, Jelks will once more stand a strong chance of winning his first African title when the 19th African Senior Championships get underway in Marrakech, Morocco. The newly converted Nigerian athlete will take on his second assignment in the green and white colours, straight from the Commonwealth Games where he put up a commendable effort in his first outing for the world’s most populous black nation.

He won his 100m heat in 10.28s, beating the Commonwealth’s fastest man this year (Richard Thompson) in the process, and was eventually the only African representative in the final where he finished fifth in an SB of 10.13s. In the 4x100m heats, he even had the audacity to stare down the world’s fastest man himself, Usain Bolt, as they crossed the finish line together!

That said, in terms of times, Jelks comes to Morocco as the fifth on the African 100m list this season, behind South Africa’s duo of Simon Magakwe (9.98s) and Akani Simbine (10.02s), Gerald Phiri of Zambia (10.03s) and Zimbabwe’s Gabriel Mvumvure (10.07s). Despite their top spots in the rankings, neither of the South African pair qualified for the Commonwealth 100m final, as Magakwe could only manage 7th place in the semis, while Simbine placed 4th in the semis with 10.21s.

Can the Southern Africans bounce back at these African Championships, or will Jelks once again prove the man of the moment, and add the African crown to his Nigerian Title? It would certainly be an interesting story if Jelks wins, given the controversy that has followed the athletes that bloggers are popularly calling the “Naijamericans” since their switches of allegiances from Team USA to Nigeria.

It would no doubt be of some significance if Jelks or one of his Nigerian teammates make the podium – as in the Commonwealth Games, Monzavous Edwards and Egwero are mostly likely to complete the trio for the individual 100 meteres. Despite Nigeria’s historical dominance of the sprints at the African Championships, no Nigerian has reached the podium in the 100 metres since the 2008 edition, when Olusoji Fasuba and Uchenna Emedolu were the GOLD and Silver medallists. Jelks is looking the most likely man to break that barren run in Marrakesh!

Men’s 100m Schedule: August 10th – Round 1 @ 10am, Semis @ 8.25pm, August 11th – Final @ 6.10pm.

(NB: This program is liable to change according to the number of participants and the local conditions)

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/08/06/okagbare-and-ahoure-set-to-renew-sprint-rivalry-for-african-100m-200m-titles/


Fresh from winning the sprint double at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare will be looking to win both the 100m and 200m titles when the 19th African Senior Championships get underway in Marrakech, Morocco from August 10 to 14.

However this will be no ride in the park as she renews her rivalry with Cote d’Ivoire’s Murielle Ahouré, who would also be aiming for the same, as she comes to the championship as the World Silver Medallist over the 100m and 200m, a feat she achieved by getting the better of Okagbare over both distances (Blessing finished 6th and 3rd respectively). The Ivorian became the first African woman to win a medal in the sprints at the World Championships, while Okagbare was the second to do so, with her bronze medal in the 200m in Moscow last year.

All that said, based on current form and barring any injuries, Okagbare is the favourite to clinch both medals, following her impressive outing in Glasgow where she won the 100m with a Commonwealth Games record of 10.85s, her fastest this year, and the 200m in 22.25s. Ahouré is directly behind Okagbare in the continental rankings this season, with her times of 10.97s over 100m and 22.61s in the 200m. The pair have met once over the 200m this season, at the Eugene leg of the Diamond League, where the Nigerian finished 2nd with a PB of 22.23s, and Ahouré was 4th, in a race that proved to be the break out race for USA’s Tori Bowie, who is the fastest woman over the 100m and 200m this year.

The duo have also gone head to head twice in the 100m in the Diamond League this season. In Lausanne, Okagbare slipped and did not complete the race, while Ahouré finished 2nd in 10.98s. The final meeting between the pair was in the 100m in Monaco last month, where Ahouré got the edge over her Nigerian rival as she finished in 3rd with her SB of 10.97s, while Okagbare followed closely with the same time in 4th.

After winning a Silver two years ago in the 100m, Blessing will be hoping to go one better at both distances this time around, although not if Ahouré has anything to say about it! The defending 100m Champion, Gabon’s Ruddy Zang Milama is only 6th fastest in Africa this year in 11.24s, so it would be a surprise if she were able to beat Okagbare this time around!

Also watch out for defending 200m African Champion and 100m Bronze Medallist from 2012, Gloria Asumnu. She looks like a good bet for Bronze in the 100m as she is Africa’s No. 3 this year, though if she does compete in the 200m this time around, she will likely have to improve her SB of 23.28s to dip below 23 seconds and be in contention for a 200m medal!

Women’s 100m Schedule: Aug 10th – Round 1 @ 9.30am, Semis @ 8.35pm; Aug 11th – FINAL @ 6pm

Women’s 200m Schedule: Aug 13th – Round 1 @ 9.30am, Semis @ 6.40pm; Aug 14th – FINAL @ 8.45pm

(NB: This program is liable to change according to the number of participants and the local conditions)

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/08/04/watch-richard-okigbazi-win-bronze-in-discus-for-nigeria-throwing-on-one-leg/

Exactly a week ago this morning, Nigeria won it’s very first Athletics medal at the just concluded Commonwealth Games, a Bronze in the F42/44 Men’s Discus Throw by Richard Okigbazi. The F42 and F44 classifications are for Athletes with single leg amputations (above or below the knee respectively) or similar leg impairments. As the Commonwealth Games drew to a close yesterday for another 4 years, we felt it important to shed more light on the amazing feat of Richard Okigbazi winning this Bronze medal, especially considering that it was ONE of only TWO medals Nigeria’s men won in Track & Field! Here is a fan-made clip of him throwing:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAvH-LSsTzE

What makes his feat even more impressive is that, while most competitors in this category used their prosthetic legs to compete, Okigbazi threw balanced on just one leg, and as can be seen from the video above, throws his leg support away just before making the throw! One blogger even called it one of the most incredible sporting things they had ever seen! Okigbazi was able to generate enough power to launch the discuss an whopping 39.38 metres, which was enough to grab him the Bronze! When the F42 and F44 classes are combined, a points system was used to calculate the medal placements.

Having gotten to experience singing the National Anthem THREE times in a packed Hampden Park in Glasgow last week (for GOLD medals in women’s 100m, 200m and Long Jump), there is one certain line which resonated very well with onlookers in the crowd as we belted out each line with immense pride at being Nigerian: “The Labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain!” Let’s make sure that the labour of Richard Okigbazi in doing Nigeria proud at the Commonwealth Games, and the labour of all our Para-Athletes past and present shall never be in vain.

While our able-bodied athletes were not able to get a single medal at the London 2012 Olympics, our Paralympians won TWELVE medals in all – SIX GOLD, FIVE Silver & ONE Bronze, but they don’t get nearly as much praise or recognition for the feats they achieve in the face of great adversity. Let’s celebrate them and continue supporting them, financially and otherwise, to continue putting Nigeria on the map globally! Share this story with someone today, to inspire them to greatness despite whatever challenges they may face. CONGRATULATIONS Richard Okigbazi, COMMONWEALTH BRONZE MEDALLIST! Onwards and upwards to Rio!

A big meet? You mean Diamond League meets that Blessing has been winning since 2012? Puhlease, this is a pointless thread, until 2015 World Championships or 2016 Olympics. Those are the BIG meets. Bowie has not proved anything yet...

AmericanQueen: Tori Bowie has ran the fastest 100 and 200 meter times this year and has beaten every major sprinter this year. Unlike Blessing , Torie has proved on more than one occasion she can win a big meet with a world class field. Blessing despite winning the CWG has NOT won a "Major A-list" meet!!!!

Now Blessing has had a very good season but she only ranks 3rd in 100m, and 2nd in 200m this season!!!

[img]http://dt9guucc6nuua.cloudfront.net/media/LargeP/c5eff5b3-3aa5-47e2-bd32-9f7675bf25d2.jpg?v=-2031202902[/img]


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynJ0Ew1ss08

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/08/03/final-day-of-athletics-is-silver-lining-for-nigeria-with-4x1-4x4-triple-jump-medals/

Brilliant displays by Team Nigeria’s 4x100m and 4x400m female teams, and Tosin Oke in the men’s Triple Jump ensured that three silver medals were added to the three gold medals already won by Blessing Okagbare (100/200m) and Ese Brume (Long Jump), to draw the curtain on an eventful outing at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

The women’s 4x400m team, rated second in the Commonwealth just behind Jamaica, ensured that they raced the Caribbeans right to the finish line in a time of 3:24.71s, while the Jamaicans raced to the title in a new Games Record of 3:23.82. England was third with 3:27.24. Nigeria’s quartet was made up of Patience Okon George, Regina George, Ada Benjamin and national champion, Folashade Abugan who ran the anchor leg. Funke Oladoye and Omolara Omotosho also pick up Silver medals, having helped the team to reach the final as part of the quartet who had come through the heats the day before in 3:28.28!

Their feat no doubt inspired their the women’s 4x100m team, as Gloria Asumnu, Blessing Okagbare, Dominique Duncan and Lawreta Ozoh also stormed to a silver medal behind the Jamaicans once more. This was a great result for the team, considering the fact that they were rated fourth in the Commonwealth prior to the games. The fantastic four posted 42.92s while Jamaica won with another Games Record of 41.83s, with England finished in third in 43.10s. Okagbare became the most decorated athlete of the Games with 2 GOLDs and 1 Silver, and now both relay teams look in very good shape to use these results as a spring board to get more medals at the 2015 World Championships and 2016 Olympics!

It was a different tale however in the men’s event as England (3.00.46), Bahamas (3.00.51) and Trinidad and Tobago (3.01.51) finished in the top three in the 4x400m, with the Nigerian team comprising of Isah Salihu, Miles Ukoama, Noah Akwu and Cristian Morton finishing a seventh in 3:04.86. In the 4x100m, Divine Oduduru, Monzavous Edwards, Obinna Metu and Mark Jelks finished sixth with a time of 40.17secs after the first baton change put paid to the team’s chances of contesting for a medal. Unsurprisingly, the GOLD was won by Usain Bolt’s Jamaica with yet another Games Record of 37.58s, with England and Trinidad & Tobago finished 2nd and 3rd with 38.02s and 38.10s respectively.

Meanwhile Nigeria’s Triple Jump Champion, Tosin Oke was denied from successfully defending his Commonwealth Triple Jump title. The five-time national champion had to settle for silver despite jumping a Season’s Best (SB) of 16.84m, as he was out-leaped by fierce rival, South Africa’s Godfrey Mokoena who dominated on the evening with his jump of 17.20m. The South African will also be bidding to wrestle Tosin Oke’s African Title away from him when the African Athletics Championships get underway in Morocco in just a week’s time! Oke may well need to jump close to his PB of 17.23m to defend his African Title. Nigeria’s No. 2, Olu Olamigoke was a very commendable 4th with 16.56m while England’s Former World Champion, Phillips Idowu finished 5th in 16.45m.

As the Commonwealth Games draws to a close, Team Nigeria’s performance in Athletics here in Glasgow has certainly been a silver lining, and a huge sign of HOPE for the future – that the Team Nigeria is rising again, after suffering a London 2012 Olympics without a single medal! Okagbare could be a Triple GOLD medal contender at Rio 2016 and Ese Brume is an exciting new talent to watch out for, especially if she follows Blessing’s footsteps and is converted to the sprints! Our women’s 4x400m team look especially strong, with SIX girls who can run 52 seconds (FIVE of whom are home-based) – along with the 4x100m they will be medal contenders in Rio 2016!

Now it’s time for our men to stand up and be counted come 2016 – Tosin Oke’s Silver in the Triple Jump and Richard Okigbazi’s Bronze in the F42/44 Discuss Throw (for athletes with lower limb amputations) were the ONLY Track & Field medals for Team Nigeria’s men. Something URGENTLY needs to be done to revive Men’s Athletics in Nigeria, as it seems that the current strategy of recruiting Americans to Team Nigeria has so far not produced much improvement on what we have at home, where the potential to produce world-beaters and MAKE CHAMPIONS is endless! It’s time for our men to step it up, else we may be depending solely on Blessing and the other girls for medals at next year’s World Championships in Beijing and the 2016 Olympics in Rio!

UPDATE: Moments before the race started, the leg 1 and 2 runners were swapped at the last minute and the following conversation ensued:

"But coach, I have never run 2nd leg before"

"IT'S OKAY, JUST GO AND RUN!"

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/08/01/okagbare-strikes-200m-gold-on-terrific-thursday-for-team-nigeria/

It was a glorious night for Team Nigeria on Thursday at Hampden Park in Glasgow as TWO GOLD medals were won in Athletics in the space of 15 minutes of each other, first with Ese Brume claiming a brilliant GOLD medal in the Long Jump, and Blessing Okagbare taking to the track immediately after to complete a dominant Commonwealth sprint double, as she triumphed in the 200m in a time of 22.25s to add to the 100m title she won on Monday! Team England occupied the 2nd, 3rd and 4th as Jodie Williams, Bianca Williams and Anyika Onuora all set new PBs, with the Jamaicans surprisingly occupying three of the last four positions for a change:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cSRq-6JLnk

Blessing started the 200m as the overwhelming championship favourite, going by her standing as the No.1 in the Commonwealth with a PB of 22.23s this season, as well as being the Diamond Race leader. She dominated the heats on with the fastest time (22.99s) and was phenomenal in the semi-final where she won comfortably in 22.43s - she looked in the kind of form that could possibly break the Games Record (22.20s) or even the African Record (22.07s). Though she was unable to get the Games Record as she did in the 100m, winning her first global titles in such dominant fashion has truly re-affirmed Blessing's pedigree as a possible future World and Olympic Champion.

The future certainly looks bright for Blessing, who is still No. 3 on Nigeria's all-time list for the 200 metres, behind Mary Onyali (22.07s) and Falilat Ogunkoya (22.22s). She will certainly have plenty of opportunities in the years to come to become Nigeria's and Africa's fastest ever over the 200m, and we can now look forward with excitement towards the 2015 World Championships and the 2016 Olympics. Okagbare's existing and emerging rivalries are set to make the women's sprints a tantalising prospect over the next two years - will Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce rediscover the form that saw her win the sprint double at the World Championships last year? Will USA's Tori Bowie, the fastest woman in the world this year in both sprints continue her phenomenal progression, have only just recently switched from the Long Jump? Exciting times lay ahead!

On Friday and Saturday, Blessing will most likely return to the track as part of Nigeria's 4x100 team, in a quest to grab Team Nigeria's first global sprint relay medal since the Beijing '08 Olympics! A quartet which included Okagbare and Gloria Asumnu came within a hundredth of a second of winning a Bronze medal at the inaugural World Relays in the Bahamas in May, and they will be looking to go at least one better at these Games! Can she lead Team Nigeria to another medal before the week runs out? We won't have long to find out!

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/08/01/brume-comes-of-age-as-she-claims-long-jump-gold-okagbares-absence-is-blessing-in-disguise/

Ese Brume became Nigeria's new Long Jump sensation on Thursday night as she jumped to a distance 0f 6.56m to claim the Long Jump crown at the ongoing Commonwealth Games! England's Jazmin Sawyers was second with 6.54m while Canada's Christabel Netty placed third. One of the favourites of the competition and home girl, Shara Proctor (C'wealth No.3) had to pull out of the event after picking up an injury while attempting her first jump. Despite only qualifying for the final in 12th place with a 6.29m jump, Brume's went into Silver medal position with 6.43m in her very first jump in the final. Her winning jump of 6.56m came in Round 3 and she subsequently did not relinquish the lead!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S_hTYpBKew
YouTube Video Credits: Athletics Africa

Even though Brume came into the Games as Nigeria's 2014 National Champion, not much was expected from her following a surprisingly out-of-sorts performance at the World Junior Championships in Eugene last week, where she failed to qualify for the final, only able to record one valid leap of 5.18m. As such, the Commonwealth GOLD medal performance represents a dramatic turnaround in just a few days for an athlete who was touted as a possible World Junior Champion but suffered the ignominy of finishing bottom of her qualifying group at those championships. Whatever the reasons behind that performance were, all is now forgotten! With Brume becoming the Commonwealth CHAMPION this early in her career, she has announced her arrival to the world with a bang, much like Okagbare did in winning an Olympic Bronze in the same event at Beijing '08!

Speaking of Okagbare, most will have assumed that the Long Jump GOLD was out of Nigeria's reach following her opting out of the event for the 200m. But in hindsight it would seem that Okagbare's absence was actually a Blessing in Disguise (no pun intended)! It allowed Brume the opportunity to compete with and triumph over several good, evenly-matched jumpers at a similarly early stage of their careers, for the most part. Brume will now be in a prime position to follow Okagbare in developing into as world-class athlete over the next few years. As with Blessing, will we see Ese eventually diversify into the sprints? With her elegant frame and current PB of 11.84s in the 100m set in the domestic Golden League this year, we would not bet against her one day making serious waves on the global sprint scene!

Ese Brume first came into national reckoning after winning the Long Jump at the 2012 National Sports Festival in Lagos, as well as two silver medals in the triple jump and high jump! She also scooped a silver medal for Nigeria during last year's African Junior Championships in Mauritius!

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/07/30/blessing-okagbare-opts-out-of-long-jump-to-chase-200m-glory-cwealth-games/

Blessing Okagbare fans could well be in for a treat and a complete spectacle in the women’s 200m at the Commonwealth Games, as the newly crowned 100m Commonwealth Champion is the red hot favourite to complete the sprint double with the 200 metre crown on Thursday night! Such is Blessing’s class beyond the rest of the Commonwealth field in the 200m, that it may simply be Blessing versus the clock. She took Debbie Ferguson’s 100m Commonwealth Games Record on Monday night, and may just take the same woman’s 200m Games Record (22.20s) on Thursday. The big question is: does Blessing just want the GOLD, or does she want to lay down a marker for years to come, by attacking Mary Onyali’s 18-year-old 200m African Record of 22.07 seconds?

Okagbare has been imperious form in the 200m this year, having made it her event of focus recently, despite starting out as a long jumper and then a 100m sprinter. She is 2nd fastest in the world this year with a PB of 22.23s, behind USA’s Tori Bowie (22.18s), and she holds FOUR of the 10 fastest times this season and is leading the 200m Diamond Race. Her closest Commonwealth competitor is Anthonique Strachan, the 2012 Double World Junior Champion and 9th fastest in the world this year with 22.50s, but she has inexplicably not been entered for the 200m – one imagines it could only be due to injury:

That leaves her main threat once again most likely to come from the Jamaicans – McLaughlin, Henry-Robinson and Calvert, who are 6th, 11th and 13th respectively in the Commonwealth this season, but ALL half a second slower than Okagbare. England’s Jodie Williams is the fastest Commonwealth athlete after Blessing competing in the 200m, after setting a PB of 22.60s this season, and while Williams will be a home nations favourite for a medal, she will almost certainly be fighting with the Jamaicans for Silver and Bronze!

An interesting sub-plot is Dominique Duncan’s first outing in an individual event for Nigeria, after switching from Team USA and coming within a hundredth of second to 4x100m Bronze at the World Relays with Team Nigeria! She’s No. 10 in the Commonwealth this year with a PB of 22.82s in April, and if she can replicate that she could also be in amongst the medals. That said, she only ran 23.91s in placing 3rd at the Nigerian Trials in June, so it will be interesting to see what kind of form she is coming into the Games with!

Some Okagbare fans will be disappointed to learn that she opted NOT to compete in the Long Jump at these Games – her compatriot Ese Brume competed in the Heats for that event on Wednesday morning, qualifying for the finals which will take place on Thursday evening, in between the women’s 200 metres semis and finals! From a scheduling point of view, it would have been virtually impossible for Okagbare to attempt TWO 200m races and SIX jumps in the Long Jump on the same night! She has taken the wisest decision, as the sprint double will be the far more widely recognised feat than the 100m and Long Jump combination!

One might recall that last year, Blessing failed to win a 100m medal in the World Championship final because she had taken 6 jumps the night before to win Long Jump Silver, and didn’t have enough time to recover to successfully execute two rounds of the 100m the next day. Clearly, the ‘scheduling gods’ are not working in her favour – global meet organisers will have to accord her the same privilege that they once showed to the likes of Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson, arranging their schedules around these superstars, if we’re ever going to see her attempt to go for THREE individual medals at major competitions!

Blessing is already Africa’s fastest woman ever in the 100m after smashing Glory Alozie’s 14-year-old record last year. The big question on Thursday will be, does she want a ‘Double Portion’ and take the 200m African Record as well? With her 10.85 second 100-metre speed in awesome display on Monday, something tells us that if Blessing decides she wants to re-write the 200 metre history books on Thursday night, she just might!

MoC PREDICTION: Barring injury, Nigeria’s favourite daughter Blessing Okagbare will WIN 200m GOLD on Thursday night, and could get the Commonwealth Games Record of 22.20s, but she might not yet be ready to break Mary Onyali’s African Record (22.07s). Even if she doesn’t get the record, we may be about to witness the BIGGEST EVER winning margin in a global 200m final, since a certain Usain Bolt, ofcourse!

Dominique Duncan should make the final of the 200 metres, and getting a medal would be a huge boost for the 24-year-old. But can she put three rounds of 200 metres together in two days and run fast enough in the final to be in medal contention? The honest truth is that we have not seen enough of her to make a firm prediction on that just yet!

Round 1 of the Commonwealth Games 200 metres kicks off TONIGHT (Wednesday), with Blessing Okagbare in Heat 1 at 9.15pm and Dominique Duncan in Heat 6 at 9.45pm – DON’T MISS IT!

The semi-finals start at 6.07pm on Thursday, with the Final shortly after at 8.45pm!

CFCfan: Ogunlewe and Obinna Metu have both crashed out of the 200m. Ogunlewe's time was 21.11s, while Metu ran 21.79s

Metu ran 21.19s...both of them finished 4th in their heats..

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/07/29/nigerias-americans-fail-to-get-100m-400m-110m-hurdles-commonwealth-medals-why-did-we-recruit-them-again/

Nigeria's hopes of securing a Commonwealth medal in the men's 100m ended on Monday night at Hampden Park in Glasgow, as the country's sole finalist Mark Jelks finished in fifth place in 10.17s. The title was won by Jamaica’s Kemar Bailey-Cole who stormed to gold in 10.00s flat and was closely followed by England's Adam Gemili in 10.10s, to the clear delight of himself and the home crowd, while another Jamaican, Nickel Ashmeade got the bronze in 10.12s.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS-_zNO_vhY

This is Jelk's first outing for Nigeria, having recently switched allegiance from the US and though the 30-year-old was hoping for a podium finish, his efforts are nonetheless commendable, going by the fact that he was the only African in the final that boasted of three Jamaicans, amongst others. Jelks, who emerged National Champion at the Nigeria's trials earlier this year was entered to the 100m alongside another newly acquired American athlete, 33-year-old Monzavous Edwards who finished 2nd in the trials, and Ogho-Oghene Egwero who finished 4th. The duo however fell by the wayside, with Egwero finishing 8th in his semi-final with 10.40s while Edwards didn't fare much better, trailing in 7th in his semi with 10.30s. Jelks had qualified for the final as one of the fastest losers in the semis where he posted a time of 10.13s.

In the absence of some of the tournament favourites and leading names such as Trinidad and Tobago's Richard Thompson, No. 1 in the Commonwealth this year with 9.82s but failed to progress to the final, and Jamaica's Nesta Carter (SB 9.98s), Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake and the big man himself Usain Bolt, one would have expected the newly converted athletes to have at least made an impact, going by the controversy that has trailed their acquisition of the Nigerian passport and their subsequent selection to Team Nigeria. One of them, Robert Simmons, did not even need to appear at the Nigerian Trials to suit up for his new country yesterday in the 400 metres, thus calling the whole selection process into question. Incidentally, he failed to finish his 400m heat, pulling up half way through due to injury!

In the 110m Hurdles on Tuesday morning, another American recruit, 28-year-old Tyron Akins, crashed out of the 110m Hurdles after finishing 4th in Heat 2 in a time of 13.75s. Akins won the Nigerian title at the trials in June, and at his best about 6 years ago he was a 13.25s runner. Former Team GB athlete Alex Al-Ameen, who qualifies to for the Green Passport by virtue of his Nigerian father, just scraped through to the final, qualifying as one of the fastest loser's from Heat 1 in a time of 13.71s. As we predicted yesterday in our analysis, Akins and Al-Ameen were likely competing for one fastest loser spot, and that proved to be the case. Though Al-Ameen's chances of making an impact in the final are slim to none, the 25-year-old should be encouraged as an athlete who COULD improve for Team Nigeria over the next 5 years!

All this then begets the question we asked at the start of the week - were any of the recruited Americans really good enough to win Commonwealth GOLD in the first place? And if they are not good enough at THIS LEVEL, what on earth will happen when Team USA is in the mix, and Jamaica's A-team return for the World Championships and Olympics in the next 2 years? Does Nigeria really need to adopt this strategy of recruiting older American athletes rather than developing our own future stars? Have they really justified their inclusion into the team? Should we not have allowed the likes of 22-year old Seye Ogunlewe, Nigeria's best young sprint talent, the opportunity to experience individual 100m sprinting at the Commonwealth Games, while grooming him for years to come?

The jury is out on this one, but they have very nearly reached a verdict already, after just THREE days of Athletics action at the Games. The last of Nigeria's American recruits is Nichole Denby, who competes in the 100m Hurdles on Thursday. Can she fare any better? We won't have long to wait to find out.

Evestar200: Any News 4rm Ese Brume?

Unfortunately, Brume finished dead last in her qualifiers for the Long Jump final, recording only one valid jump out of 3, of 5.18 metres!

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/07/29/team-nigeria-guide-to-2014-cwg-athletics-day-3-tuesday-july-29th/

Here's the full schedule of ALL Team Nigeria Athletes competing in Track & Field DAY THREE (Tuesday July 29th) at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. You can catch this LIVE on SuperSports 4, OR follow Making of Champions' LIVE TWEETS and POSTS throughout the day - stay tuned!


Men’s Long Jump Qualifying Round

10.05am: GROUP A - Hammed Suleman (NGR No.2) vs Greg Rutherford (ENG, C’wealth No.1) and Henry Frayne (AUS, C’wealth No.4)

10.05am: GROUP B – Samson Idiata (NGR No.1, C’wealth No.11) vs Zarck Visser (RSA, C’wealth No.2)


Men’s 110 Hurdles ROUND 1

10.55am: Heat 1 – Alex Al-Ameen (NGR No.2, C’wealth No. 13) vs Andrew Riley (JAM, C’wealth No.2)

11.01am: Heat 2 – Tyrone Akins (NGR No.1, C’wealth No.14) vs Hansle Parchment (JAM, C’wealth No.1)

11.07am: Heat 3 – Martins Ogieriakhi (NGR No. 3, C’wealth No. 18) vs Wayne C. Davis II (TTO, C’wealth No.3) and William Sharman (ENG, C’wealth No.4)


Women’s 400m Hurdles ROUND 1

12:29pm: Heat 3 – Amaka Ogoegbunam (NGR No.1, C’wealth No.20) vs Kaliese Spencer (JAM, C’wealth No.1)



Men’s 800m ROUND 1

12:57pm: Heat 2 - Sean Obinwa (NGR) vs Andre Olivier (RSA, C’wealth No.



Women's 400m FINAL

8:30pm: Folashade Abugan (NGR No.1, C’wealth No. 7) vs Novlene Williams-Mills (JAM, C’wealth No.1), Christine Day (JAM, C’wealth No.2) and Amantle Montsho (BOT, C’wealth No.3)

Can Abugan make any impact in a loaded 400m final tonight?



Men's 110m Hurdles Final @ 8.45pm - Can any of Nigeria's Three in the Heats this morning make the finals? We won't have long to find out!

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/07/29/mixed-fortunes-for-nigeria-as-abugan-makes-400m-commonwealth-games-final/

Team Nigeria’s conquest for medals took a dramatic turn on Day 2 of athletics at the Hampden Park in Glasgow as Nigeria’s No.1, Folashade Abugan was the only one of three athletes to qualify from the semi-finals of the women’s 400m at the ongoing Commonwealth Games, through to the final on Tuesday night.

Abugan competed in Heat 2 of the semis, and missed out on automatic qualification as she finished third behind Jamaica’s Christine Day (51.02) and Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas in 2nd with 51.58s. However Abugan’s time of 51.71s qualified her as one of the fastest losers, along with Kineke Alexander of St. Vincent and the Grenadines who posted 52.12s behind Abugan.

Unfortunately, her compatriots, Omolara Omotosho and Regina George had no such luck as they both failed to make it to the final, after finishing 3rd and 6th respectively. Omotosho competed in Heat 1 and came agonizingly close to automatic qualification; she however missed out on a place in the final as she finished 3rd in 52.34s, trailing Jamaica’s Stephanie McPherson (50.69s) and Kelly Massey of England (52.19s) who beat her near the line as she started to tie up and lose her form in the final straight.

More surprising was the performance of Regina George who finished a distant sixth with 53.48s in Heat 3 which was won by the Commonwealth’s top athlete, Novlene Williams-Mills in 50.73s. The Jamaican was followed by defending champion, Amantle Montsho (50.96s) and England’s Margaret Adeoye who returned a time of 52.48s in 3rd. George, the darling of many Nigerian fans could not replicate the form that saw her inspire Nigeria to a bronze medal finish at the inaugural edition of the IAAF World Relays in the Bahamas earlier this year. Rumour has it that the 22-year old was carrying an injury after the heats, and as such couldn’t post a performance deserving of a place in the final. One wonders though why she was picked ahead of Patience Okon George, who finished ahead of her in the National Trials in third place, and really ought to have run the individual 400m, unless she was injured!

Abugan will be engaged in the battle for supremacy ahead of Tuesday’s final when she goes against a star-studded field which includes Williams-Mills, Day and Montsho (1st, 2nd and 3rd fastest in the Commonwealth this year). She comes to the field with the second slowest time and will need to extra inspiration if she is to get to the podium on Tuesday. As we predicted yesterday, Abugan was the surest bet to reach the final, and is so doing confirms her position as Nigeria’s No. 1 this year. She will have to watch out for the Jamaicans who coincidentally dominated the various heats. Can she pull of the same kind of upset that saw her dethrone Regina George as national champion?

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/07/28/nigeria-throws-away-4x400m-world-juniors-by-running-all-of-2nd-leg-in-lane-four/

Nigeria's 4x400m U-20 team at the recently concluded World Junior Championships in Eugene on Saturday was the centre of much ridicule when the runner on the 2nd leg, after receiving the baton with Nigeria leading into the final heat to reach the final, bizarrely stayed in his lane throughout his run!

Anyone who watches Athletics will know that only the first 500 metres is run in lanes in the 4x400 metres - it has a longer stagger than the individual 400 metres which unwinds after the athlete on the 2nd leg has run 100 metres, with everyone moving into lane one for the rest of the race! Here's part of the race:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSTPmTkCreU

Simply incredible that the boy did not know how to run the 2nd leg - makes you wonder what they were trained to do in practice, doesn't it? Didn't they ever run this race back home in Nigeria with him on the 2nd leg? Simply shocking that such inexperience wasn't caught and fixed before getting all the way to the WORLD STAGE! lol...

What made this mistake even sadder was that they ended up missing out on qualification for the final, after finishing third in the race in 3:09.37, and missing out on a fastest losers' spot by just 0.15 seconds!

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/07/28/can-former-american-tyron-akins-lead-nigeria-to-110m-hurdles-medals-cwealth-games/

Amidst the ongoing controversy surrounding the American Athletes recently recruited to Team Nigeria, we analyse the chances of Nigeria’s current 110m Hurdles Champion, 28-year-old Tyron Akins, formerly of Team USA, in the 110m Hurdles at the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday, as well as the chances of runner-up at the Nigerian trials, 25-year-old Alex Al-Ameen, the former British athlete whose father is Nigerian.

On Sunday we asked the question of whether the recently recruited Americans had improved Nigeria’s 100m sprinting pool and whether they could help Team Nigeria to win Commonwealth Medals, and today we’re asking the same question for the 110m hurdles. At MAKING OF CHAMPIONS, we have EXCLUSIVELY put together the 2014 Commonwealth Athlete rankings in the 110m Hurdles to analyse Nigeria’s medal chances in the event!

https://makingofchampions.files./2014/07/2014-cwg-mens-110m-hurdles-list1.jpg

Essentially, Akins and Al-Ameen are evenly matched at the moment based on their Season’s Bests, but Akins came out on top at the Nigerian Trials when it mattered, winning in 13.66s, with Al-Ameen second in 13.75s and three-time National Sports Festival Champion, Martin Ogieriakhi, third in 13.93s. While Al-Ameen and Akins have certainly given Nigeria an upgrade in terms of the men’s sprint hurdles pool, they are only ranked 13th and 14th amongst Commonwealth athletes this year, as such it looks like they would have to shave two or three tenths of their best times this season to be in medal contention at these Games.

Akins could be capable of that, if he rediscovers his best form – he has a PB of 13.25s from 2008, and ran 13.30s in three consecutive seasons from 2010 to 2012. Al-Ameen’s best this season is also his lifetime best, and at 25, he still has a number of years to improve in the 110m hurdles, so it remains to be seen if this Games has come too soon for him to make an appreciable impact. The 110m hurdles kick off tomorrow (Tuesday) with 3 stacked Semi-Finals, with one of the three Nigerian hurdlers in each one – given the better ranked athletes that each race is filled with, our hope is that at least one of them can make the Final on Tuesday evening!



Men’s 110m Hurdles Semi-Finals on Tues July 29th



10.55am: Heat 1 – Alex Al-Ameen (NGR No. 1, C’wealth No. 13) vs

Andrew Riley (JAM No. 2, C’wealth No. 2) &

Shane Brathwaite (BAR No. 1, C’wealth No. 5)



11.01 am: Heat 2 – Tyron Akins (NGR No. 2, C’wealth No. 14) vs

Hansle Parchment (JAM No. 1, C’wealth No. 1),

Greggmar Swift (BAR No. 2, C’wealth No. 6) &

Lawrence Clarke (ENG No. 2, C’wealth No. 7)



11.07am: Heat 3 – Martin Ogieriakhi (NGR No. 3, C’wealth No. 19) vs

Wayne Davis II (TTO No. 1, C’wealth No. 3),

William Sharman (ENG No. 1, C’wealth No. 4) &

Ryan Brathwaite (BAR No. 3, C’wealth No. 10)



MoC PREDICTION: Based on how stacked each Semi-Final is, Akins and Al-Ameen might be racing each other for a fastest losers’ spot in the final – at least one of them could scrape through, but anything can happen in the hurdles, so a great result would be to have both of them reach the final! It would be a huge surprise if either of them were to claim a medal in the Final on Tuesday night. Once again, it’s the hurdles and anything can happen, so we can only hope!

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/07/28/segun-toriola-wins-rally-of-the-year-as-nigeria-wins-table-tennis-bronze-commonwealth-games/

Nigeria won a Bronze medal in the men’s team table tennis this morning, by defeating India 3 matches to 1, with wins in the singles matches from Quadri Aruna and Ojo Onaolapo (3 games to 1 each) and a win in the doubles by Segun Toriola and Ojo Onaolapo (3 games to 2)!

But it was this AWESOME 41-shot defensive rally by Toriola, the only Nigerian in history to participate in 6 Olympic Games, in the semi-final loss to Singapore yesterday that has been doing the rounds on YouTube!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frNk3lB8dfg

It had the British commentators calling it the Rally of the Tournament and of the Year! We’ve never seen anything like it – have you?

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/07/28/team-nigeria-guide-to-2014-cwg-athletics-day-2-monday-july-28th/

Here's the full schedule of ALL Team Nigeria Athletes competing in Track & Field DAY TWO (Monday July 28th) at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. You can catch this LIVE on SuperSports 4, OR follow Making of Champions' LIVE TWEETS and POSTS throughout the day - stay tuned!


Men’s 400m ROUND 1

11.32am: Heat 2 – Salihu Isah (NGR No. 1, C'wealth No. 49) vs Wayde Van Niekerk (RSA, C’wealth No. 4)

11.39am: Heat 3 – Noah Akwu (NGR No. 2, outside C’wealth Top 50) vs Kirani James (GRN, Olympic Champion & C’wealth No. 1)

11.46am: Heat 4 – Robert Simmons (American - never competed for Nigeria previously! C'wealth No. 18)


Women's 100m SEMI-FINAL

7.17pm: SF 2 - Gloria Asumnu (NGR No. 2, C'wealth No. 13) vs Veronica Campbell-Brown (JAM No. 1, C'wealth No. 2)

7.24pm: SF 3 - BLESSING OKAGBARE (NGR No. 1, C'wealth No. 3) vs Kerron Stewart (JAM No. 4, C'wealth No. 6)


Men's 100m SEMI-FINAL

7.35pm: SF 1 - Ogho-Oghene Egwero (NGR No. 2, C'wealth No. 45) vs Nickel Ashmeade (JAM No. 2, C'wealth No. 5) & Simon Magakwe (RSA & Africa No. 1, C'wealth No. 6)

7.42pm: SF 2 - Mark Jelks (NGR No. 1, C'wealth No. 30) vs Adam Gemili (ENG, C'wealth No. 15)

7.49pm: SF 3 - Monzavous Edwards (NGR No. 3, C'wealth No. 64) vs Richard Thompson (TTO, C'wealth No. 1) & Akani Simbine (RSA, C'wealth No. 10)


Women's 400m SEMI-FINAL

8.15pm: SF 1 - Omolara Omotosho (NGR No. 3, C'wealth N0. 14) vs Stephenie Ann McPherson (JAM No. 3, C'wealth No. 4)

8.22pm: SF 2 - Folashade Abugan (NGR No. 1, C'wealth No. 7) vs Christine Day (JAM No. 2, C'wealth No. 2) & Kineke Alexander (VIN, C'wealth No. 8 )

8.29pm: SF 3 - Regina George (NGR No. 2, C'wealth No. 11) vs Amantle Monstho (BOT, C'wealth No. 3, DEFENDING CHAMPION) & Novlene Williams-Mills (JAM, C'wealth No. 1)


Women's 100m FINAL @ 9.35pm - BLESSING OKAGBARE and Gloria Asumnu contest the Semi-Finals earlier!

Men's 100m FINAL @ 9.50pm - Ogho-Oghene Egwero, Mark Jelks and Monzavous Edwards all contest the Semi-Finals earlier!

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/07/28/another-american-robert-simmons-switches-allegiances-to-team-nigeria-commonwealth-games/

Watch out for the first ever appearance 25-year-old American Robert Simmons in Nigeria’s colours in the 400 metres at 11.46am – it is unlcear when and how Simmons switched allegiance to Team Nigeria, considering that he did not appear at the National Trials in Calabar in June, which should have served as the qualifiers for the Commonwealth Games. Omeiza Akerele finished 3rd at the trials but was part of Nigeria’s team at the World Junior Championships which just concluded in the US yesterday, so perhaps the decision was made for him to compete there instead!

For anyone arriving late to this party, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding Nigeria’s new American recruits, who largely dominated proceedings at the Nigerian Trials in June, particularly regarding their eligibility for the Green Passport of Nigeria, and whether they are good enough to win global medals for Nigeria. According to Simmons’ IAAF Profile, he has a PB of 45.19s set this season, which places him 18th amongst Commowealth Athletes this season, suggesting that though he is an improvement on Nigeria’s current quarter-milers who have struggled to break 46 seconds for some time now, he is unlikely to win a medal at these Games.

The question on his eligibility for the Nigerian passport is another one altogether. We will update you when we found out more about his switch!


Men’s 400m ROUND 1 TODAY

11.32am – Heat 2 - Salihu Isah (NGR No. 1, C’wealth No. 49) vs Wayde Van Niekerk (RSA, C’wealth No. 4)

11.39am – Heat 3 – Noah Akwu (NGR No. 2, outside C’wealth Top 50) vs Kirani James (GRN, Olympic Champion & C’wealth No. 1)

11.46am – Heat 4 – Robert Simmons (American – never competed for Nigeria previously! C’wealth No. 18)

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/07/27/nigeria-in-bright-start-as-athletics-takes-center-stage-in-glasgow/

Eight out of the nine athletes representing Nigeria on the first day of Athletics at the Commonwealth Games secured their places in the semi-finals of their respective events on Sunday. In Heat 1 of the women’s 100m, Gloria Asumnu finished second in 11.43s and qualified for the semis behind Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown who led with 11.29s, while Blessing Okagbare dominated Heat 5 with a time of 11.20s and was followed by England’s Asha Philip (11.47s). Home-based athlete Justina Sule was the only casualty on Day One as she finished a distant sixth in Heat 4 with in a time of just 12.00s, more than half a second down from her PB of 11.49s, which she set in Calabar in June.

Asumnu will once again race against Campbell-Brown in the semis on Monday in Heat 2, and will have a good chance of reaching the 100m final if she gets close to her Season’s best of 11.15s. Meanwhile, 100m African record holder, Okagbare will go head to head against Jamaica’s Kerron Stewart in Heat 3. Okagbare looked supremely comfortable in her Heat and is strongly favoured to scale the semi-final and contest for a medal in final, also taking place on Monday!

In the men’s category, Mark Jelks started on a winning note in his debut for Nigeria as he won Heat 3 in 10.28s and qualified for the semis alongside Warren Fraser from the Bahamas (10.31s) and Trinidad & Tobago’s Richard Thompson, the Commonwealth No. 1.this year whom was surprisingly beaten into 3rd with 10.33s. England’s Adam Gemili was the fastest athlete in Round 1, winning Heat 6 in 10.15s, and was followed by runner-up in the National Trials, Monzavous Edwards, also making his first appearance for Nigeria, having recently obtained the green passport. The 33-year old qualified for the semis in a time of 10.40s. Former national champion, Ogho-Oghene Egwero was not left out as he posted 10.38s to move on to the next round along with South Africa’s Akani Simbine who topped Heat 8 with a time of 10.32s.

In the semi-finals, Jelks and Edwards swap their opponents from the 1st Round – Jelks, Nigeria’s current 100m champion, will have his work cut out for him as he takes on Adam Gemili in the semis on Monday, while Edwards will need to make a remarkable improvement if he is to get past Richard Thompson who has an SB of 9.82s. Egwero will go against Jamaica’s Nickel Ashmeade and another South African, Simon Magakwe, in the semi-finals. Magakwe is the fastest African in the 100m this year with an SB of 9.98s while Egwero has posted a time of 10.18s.

In the women’s 400m, the trio of Regina George, Folashade Abugan and Omolara Omotosho all qualified from the heats to the next round of the competition. Coincidentally, all three athletes finished second in their respective heats. George who competed in Heat 1 returned a time of 53.92s, while Omotosho posted a faster time of 53.02s behind Jamaica’s Stephenie McPherson who led with 52.25s in Heat 4. National champion Abugan trailed behind reigning Commonwealth champion, Amantle Montsho in 52.54s in Heat 5. Montsho looks ready to defend her title as she ran posted the fastest time in the heats, 51.88s.

Abugan faces stiff competition in Monday’s semi-finals, as she will be contending with Christine Day of Jamaica who has run the second fastest time in the Commonwealth this year (50.16s), while compatriot, Omotosho will compete against McPherson who has posted an SB of 50.40s. Two-time national champion Regina George finds herself in a STACKED semi-final that includes TWO of the current heavyweights in her event, Botswana’s Montsho and Jamaica’s Novlene Williams-Mills, who is ranked No 1 in the Commonwealth this year with 50.05s.

Regina will likely have to do something special (or at least run a fast time to qualify as a fastest loser) to justify her inclusion in the individual 400m in place of namesake (no relation) Patience Okon George who finished above her at the Nigerian Trials in June – watch this space!

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/07/27/team-nigeria-guide-to-2014-commonwealth-games-athletics-day-1-sunday-july-27th/

Here’s the full schedule of ALL Team Nigeria Athletes competing in Track & Field DAY ONE (Sunday July 27th) at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. You can catch this LIVE on SuperSports 4, OR follow Making of Champions’ LIVE TWEETS and POSTS throughout the day (twitter.com/makingofchamps & Facebook.com/makingofchamps) – stay tuned!

Men’s 100m ROUND 1

2.51pm – Heat 3 - Mark Jelks (NGR No. 1, C’wealth No. 30) vs Richard Thompson (TTO, C’wealth No. 1)

3.12pm – Heat 6 – Monzavous Edwards (NGR No. 3, C’wealth No. 64) vs Adam Gemili (ENG, C’wealth No. 15) & Darrel Brown (TTO, C’wealth No. 17)

3.26pm – Heat 8 – Ogho-Oghene Egwero (NGR No. 2, C’wealth No. 45) vs Akani Simbine (RSA, C’wealth No. 10) & Aaron Brown (CAN, C’wealth No. 20)

See Making of Champions’ men’s 100m Commonwealth rankings and analysis here!
http://makingofchampions.net/2014/07/26/nigerias-american-athletes-are-they-good-enough-to-win-commonwealth-medals-part-i/



Women’s 100m ROUND 1

3.55pm – Heat 1 - Gloria Asumnu (NGR No. 2, C’wealth No. 13) vs Veronica Campbell-Brown (JAM No. 1, C’wealth No. 2)

4.14pm – Heat 4 – Justina Sule (NGR No. 3) vs Michelle Lee-Ahye (TTO, C’wealth No. 1)

4.23pm – Heat 5 – BLESSING OKAGBARE (NGR No. 1, C’wealth No. 3). Others include England’s Asha Philip…

See Making of Champions’ women’s 100m Commonwealth rankings and analysis here!
http://makingofchampions.net/2014/07/26/okagbare-faces-stiff-test-for-100m-commonwealth-gold-asumnu-is-a-possible-finalist/



Women’s 400m ROUND 1

4.55pm – Heat 1 - Regina George (NGR No. 2, C’wealth No. 11)

5.16pm – Heat 4 – Omolara Omotosho (NGR No. 3, C’wealth N0. 14) vs Stephenie Ann McPherson (JAM No. 3, C’wealth No. 4)

5.23pm – Heat 5 - Folashade Abugan (NGR No. 1, C’wealth No. 7) vs Amantle Monstho (C’wealth No. 3, DEFENDING CHAMPION)

See Making of Champions’ women’s 400m Commonwealth rankings and analysis here!
http://makingofchampions.net/2014/07/27/nigerian-quartet-in-uphill-battle-for-individual-400m-medals-but-look-good-in-the-4x400m/

chucs: I'm surprised that Shelly-Ann Fryser name went missing in your list. That woman is a tiny californian mite and she never disappoints on the big stage. I think veronica Campbell's time of glory has passed. I wish Blessing best of luck but that list is a very strong one.

Actually, you'll see that Fraser-Pryce is No. 5 on the list, and she is not competing in the individual 100m at Commonwealth, only in the Relay - there are only 2 other Jamaicans ahead of her in the standings above, but she did not compete at the Jamaican Trials, and it is 1-2-3 at the Trials who are representing them in Glasgow - Campbell-Brown, Stewart and Calvert...

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/07/27/nigerian-quartet-in-uphill-battle-for-individual-400m-medals-but-look-good-in-the-4x400m/

Nigeria’s quartet of Folasade Abugan, Regina George, Omolara Omotosho and Patience Okon George have become a formidable force in the 4x400m relay, following their heroics at the maiden IAAF World Relays in the Bahamas in May where the team scooped the country’s only medal (Bronze) of the competition.

That said, their chances of winning global medals in the individual 400m, starting with the Commonwealth Games this week, might yet prove challenging going by current statistics, although the possibility of at least one of them staging an upset cannot be totally ruled out. Abugan (SB 51.21s), who dethroned Regina George as national champion in June, is the highest ranked of the quartet in amongst Commonwealth Athletes this year in 7th, while Okon George (51.29s), Regina George (51.30s) and Omotosho (51.56s) occupy the 10th, 11th and 14th spots respectively in the 2014 Commonwealth ratings.

[img]http://makingofchampions.files./2014/07/2014-cwg-womens-400-list-copy.jpg[/img]

The athlete to beat in the women’s 400m will likely be Jamaica’s Novlene Williams-Mills (SB 50.05s), number one in the Commonwealth this year, and dominant on the Diamond League circuit earlier this season, before USA's McCorory and Richards-Ross took over and are the only athletes in the world to break 50 seconds this season. With USA not competing here, Williams-Mills stiffest should come from none other than reigning African and Commonwealth champion, Amantle Montsho from Botswana who will be here to defend her title. Montsho, a former world champion has the third fastest time (50.37s) amongst Commonwealth Athletes, with Jamaica’s Christine Day (50.16) and Stephenie Ann McPherson (50.40s).

With 3 of the top 4 Commonwealth Athletes this year, the Jamaican’s look an extremely good bet for 4x400m Relay GOLD as they rule the Commonwealth standings with 3.23.26 from the World Relays, with the Nigerian quartet looking good for the Silver after posting an SB of 2.23.41 in the Bahamas as well, Nigeria's 3rd fastest quartet in history, and the fastest by any Nigerian Quartet since the Falilat Ogunkoya-led team of the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

That notswithstanding, they would have to watch out for Team England who could be out to spring a surprise on their 'home turf', despite world champion, Christine Ohuruogu’s fitness battles. Ohuruogu, the former Olympic champion, is still the highest ranked Briton this season with 51.66 in 15th while her England teammates Anyika Onuora (51.78s), Emily Diamond (51.95s) and Shana Cox (52.11s) are 18th, 22nd and 24th respectively in the Commonwealth standings - don't count them out just yet!

STOP PRESS: We have just gathered that the THREE from the Nigerian quartet who will compete in the individual 400m are Regina George, Omotosho and Abugan - their heats are coming up TODAY (Sunday) at 4.55pm, 5.16pm and 5.23pm respectively - the latter two will face McPherson and Montsho head one - don't miss them! Commiserations to Okon George who is actually Nigeria's N0. 2 this year but misses out on competing in the individual event (we hope the selectors made the best decision)! Undoubtedly she'll be back for the Relays later in the week!

MoC PREDICTION: ALL THREE Nigerian girls competing can make the final, and we expect at least TWO of them to do it. Which TWO? Difficult to say, Abugan as the Nigerian Champion seems the surest bet, while Regina George desperately needs to find her last year's form to reach the final and justify her inclusion in the individual 400m, despite finishing only 4th at the Nigerian Trials. We expect at JAM-BOT-JAM 1-2-3 in the final, but hopefully one of our girls can spring a surprise and snatch a medal!

In the 4x400m Relay later in the week, it will be all about Jamaica vs Nigeria! Jamaica's are certainly favourites for the GOLD, but considering how close Team Nigeria ran them at the World Relays, the GOLD is certainly not too far for our girls to reach for. If Christine Ohuruogu is anywhere near back to here best form, she should help Team England to the Bronze!

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/07/26/nigerias-american-athletes-are-they-good-enough-to-win-commonwealth-medals-part-i/

There has been much controversy and talk since June at the Nigerian Trials for the Commonwealth Games, which heralded a new era of American Athletes with little or no clear lineage from Nigeria attending and dominating at those National Championships. While there has been widespread disapproval by some former Nigerian Olympians and local coaches of this new practice of recruiting Americans to represent Nigeria, there has also been a lingering school of thought which has followed the reasoning that, surely if they are better than what we have at home, they should be allowed to represent Nigeria? IF they can win medals for Team Nigeria at international competitions, then why not?

Well, here at MAKING OF CHAMPIONS we have crunched some very interesting numbers, to show you exactly what chance (IF ANY) our new American recruits have of winning medals at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, where the Athletics programme is kicking off tomorrow. We have EXCLUSIVELY put together 2014 Commonwealth Athlete rankings to analyse Nigeria's medal chances in FOUR events that our new Athletes will be competing in - the men's 100m, 200m, 11om Hurdles, and the women's 100m Hurdles!

Today, we analyse the chances of Nigeria's current 100m Champion, 30-year-old Mark Jelks, and runner-up in both 100m and 200m at the Nigerian trials, 33-year-old Monzavous Edwards, both of whom recently switched allegiances from Team USA to Team Naija. Have they improved Nigeria's mens sprint pool?

[img]https://makingofchampions.files./2014/07/2014-cwg-mens-100m-200m-lists-copy.jpg[/img]

Despite the fact that Jelks is CURRENTLY faster than anyone else on Team Nigeria in the 100 metres, he only places 30th among Commonwealth Athletes in 2014 - ahead of him are EIGHT Jamaicans, SEVEN Brits, FOUR Trinadadians, TWO South Africans, TWO from St Kitts & Nevis and one each from four other countries. Even when you take into account that each country can only enter three athletes per event, it becomes very apparent that Jelks may well struggle to reach the Commonwealth 100m final, let alone win a medal! The odds of Edwards reaching the 100m final are even much slimmer - he's only ranked 64th amongst Commonwealth athletes this year, and would be very difficult the argue that he is an upgrade from the likes of upcoming 22 year old Seye Ogunlewe, and former Nigerian Champions Egwero and Metu.

The emergence of Divine Oduduru with a World Junior Silver in the 200 metres in a stunning wind-assisted time of 20.25s also further calls into question the necessity (or indeed the wisdom) of recruiting older Americans to represent Nigeria. Oduduru, who could be representing Nigeria for another ten years or more, had already comfortably beaten 33-year-old Edwards at the Nigeria Trials with a time of 20.87s to 21.34s, a time that does not even rank Edwards in the top 100 in the Commonwealth for 200 metres this year - indeed only one year in his whole career did he run faster than 20.40s (he has a 20.17s PB from 2009). It would be surprising to see Edwards make it out of Round 1 in Glasgow, if he indeed attempts the 200 metres this week. There are already calls for Oduduru to be flown directly from Glasgow to Eugene to compete in the 200 metres which starts on Wednesday, so that Nigeria could have a decent showing in the event!

Finally, given all the countries listed above who have TWO or more athletes in the 100m Top 30 (Jamaica, England, Trinidad & Tobago, South Africa, St Kitts & Nevis) and even the Bahamas who has THREE in the top 35, we have to say that it is also rather unlikely that Nigeria will get a medal in the men's 4x100m Relay next weekend, and the presence of the Americans does absolutely nothing to change that...

MoC PREDICTIONS for the men's sprints:

Men's 100 metres - Jelks could scrape into the 100m final in Glasgow, but a semi-final outing is most likely. Egwero & Edwards should reach the Semis too, but one of them may fall in the first round!

Men's 200 metres - Edwards will not make it out of the first round, especially if he has contested the 100 metres already. Oduduru could possibly make the Semis, but will also fall in the 1st round IF he doesn't arrive in Glasgow well ahead of Wednesday to get some much needed rest.

Men's 4x100 metres - With or without the Americans in the squad, Team Nigeria should reach the final, but without some unexpected baton drops or lane infringements from 2 or 3 countries ahead of us, don't expect a medal. Stranger things have happened we suppose, so one can still hope!

MoC VERDICT: The American recruits have NOT sufficiently improved Nigeria's mens sprint pool to really justify their inclusion. We will stand corrected if they are able to prove our predictions wrong in the coming days!


Look out tomorrow, when we bring your our analysis of Team Nigeria's chances in the men's 110m hurdles and the women's 100m hurdles - stay tuned!

http://makingofchampions.net/2014/07/26/okagbare-faces-stiff-test-for-100m-commonwealth-gold-asumnu-is-a-possible-finalist/

Exactly 20 years ago, one of the country’s most outstanding athletes, Mary Onyali returned a time of 11.06secs to win the women’s 100m at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, and Nigeria’s sprint queen, Blessing Okagbare will be aiming for same as Athletics takes off in Glasgow on Sunday.

However, Okagbare, who is the nation’s brightest prospect at the games, will have her work cut out for her as she goes head-to-head with Trinidad and Tobago’s Michelle-Lee Ahye and Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown in a bid to secure her first Commonwealth Games title two decades after a Nigerian last won the crown.

Compatriot, Damola Osayomi won the 100m in Delhi four years ago but had to be stripped of the medal and banned after her doping test came back positive for the stimulant methylhexanamine, while Natasha Mayers of St. Vincent and the Grenadines was elevated to first position.

Okagbare recently ran a Season’s Best (SB) of 10.97secs at the Monaco Diamond League, but Ahye is unbeaten in the 100m this season, as is USA's Tori Bowie, who currently World Leader this year with 10.80secs. Ahye tops the Commonwealth ranking with the world’s second fastest time of 10.85s, while Campbell-Brown follows closely with 10.86s:

[img]http://makingofchampions.files./2014/07/2014-cwg-womens-100-list-copy.jpg[/img]

Even though Okagbare comes to the competition with the third fastest time, she could still storm to gold at the Hampden Park on Monday if she is able to rediscover the form that saw her lower the African 100m record to 10.79s - that time would almost certainly claim GOLD but given that Blessing has been concentrating on the 200 metres this season, this might have had an effect on both her speed and her confidence to claim the 100m crown!

Fellow Nigerian Gloria Asumnu also looks like a good bet for the 100m final as she occupies the 13th position in Commonwealth with a time of 11.15secs - even though EIGHT of the athletes ahead of her are Jamaican, only 3 of them can compete at the Games!

MoC PREDICTION: Our heart say GOLD for Blessing, but our head says it will be Silver or Bronze in the 100 metres. Gloria will do well to get to the final, but a medal will be out of her reach, unless she can run a PB and go under 11 seconds.

The good news is, with these two in our 4x100m team, they should be in good shape for a Relay medal next weekend! (Silver or Bronze - Jamaica will get the GOLD, unless they drop the baton or are disqualified)!

Litmus:


When Ghana achieved independence first, that whole 'looking for something to be proud of' made Caribbeans latch on. Suddenly everyone's ancestors game from Ghana. Many in the Caribbean and wider diaspora wanted to associate with that. In addition, there was the Nkrumah factor and those Dobois literature.

It's a little like how all Caribbean people suddenly all became descendants of the Ashanti. They liked the Ashanti worrier spirit fame and also they thought that the Ashanti were fair-skinned.


In any case many were taken to Jamaica from Ghana however the majority came from what is now Nigeria, specifically the delta region and the East of Nigeria.

I've done extensive research on this for a film I made called Making of Champions: "The History" on reviving Naija Athletics, where I sought to show exactly where the Jamaicans all came from - about 33% of the 1 million slaves that were taken to Jamaica came from slave ports situated in present day Nigeria, while 29% of them came from present day Ghana. So it is very close as to which country dominates, with the Igbos and Akans being the largest group that were taken to Jamaica. Here's an ethnic breakdown by the port from which the slave were taken:

Bight of Biafra (32%) - about two-thirds of them were Igbo, then Efik, with some Tikari, Banyangi from the Cameroon grasslands.
Gold Coast (Ghana) (29%) - predominantly Akan, but some Ewe too
West-Central Africa (17%) - Congo peoples with wide variety of origins
Bight of Benin (Togo, Benin and Lagos in Nigeria) (˜10%) - would have been mainly Ewe, Hausa, Fon, Mahi.
West and North of the Gold Coast (˜10%) - was quite a mix with no group dominant

In all less than 4% of the slaves taken to Jamaica were Yoruba. Something to do with the fact that the late influx of Yorubas to Jamaica did not happen until the Oyo empire fell in the late 19th century, and the British slave trade to Jamaica was nearly over by then!

POINT OF CORRECTION - It is the World JUNIOR Champs (U-20), not the World YOUTH Champs (U-17) - that one was last year...