Over the weekend I was very privileged to be part of a strategy session on Nigerian sports hosted by the country’s Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi. This 3 day retreat was held in Abuja from Friday through to Sunday and was arranged by the Honourable Minister following the completion of the World Championships a week ago. The discussion centred around creating a High Performance System for Sports in Nigeria. For the full story click on my latest blog post here:

http://makingofchampions.net/2013/08/28/strategy-session-with-the-nigerian-sports-minister/

Here are the final snippets from my radio interview on Sportsline on Hot102FM in Jamaica last week Monday. The show was hosted by Wayne Lewis and Trudy-Ann Williams, while Bruce James, the President of MVP track club (where Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce trains), also made an appearance as we discussed the recently concluded World Championships:

http://makingofchampions.net/2013/08/27/long-distance-again-on-hot102fm-in-jamaica/

The first snippet is about the continuing misconception in Jamaica that all Africans (and by definition Nigerians) are long distance runners, which I was once again quizzed on - I made a teaser about this observation from our Jamaica trip and I also blogged about this just before the World Championships to try to set this notion right! Perhaps I will have to release a new video teaser soon to address this once and for all…watch this space! ;-)


We also discussed Jamaica’s current pedigree in sprinting – Wayne tries to get controversial and critical about Jamaica’s performance at the World Championships, and I eventually come to Bruce James’ rescue (not that he needed me to!)


Finally, Bruce James and I both give our high and low points from the World Championships – Enjoy!

Much ado about nothing...she's broken both Glory's and Chioma's time so no argument going forward as to who owns it! I even made a video about it here...:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCH2vjROrp4

Last night I made an appearance on Sportsline, a Jamaican radio show on their Hot102FM channel to review the just concluded World Championships. I shared the airwaves with none other than MVP President Bruce James who focused on Jamaica’s 6 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze medal performances at the Championships, while I brought the outsider’s perspective, speaking mainly on the double medal feats of Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria and Murielle Ahoure of Cote d’Ivoire. See my blog for the interview:

http://makingofchampions.net/2013/08/21/discussing-nigerian-athletics-on-hot102fm-in-jamaica/

In this 9 minute section of the show, we discuss the Making of Champions documentary, the blog, investment in athletics in Nigeria, and Bruce James quizzes me on why Nigeria entered Blessing into 4 different events (100m, 200m, Long Jump and 4x100m) for these Championships! Click on the below to listen to our discussion…enjoy! (You might be wondering how come I appeared on a radio show in Jamaica yesterday? Well, the station dialled me into the discussion from my current base in the UK!)

Bruce James is more or less one of the founding fathers of the age of the Professional Track Club in Jamaica, after playing a pivotal role in setting up MVP Track & Field Club in 1999 – MVP is home to the likes of Shelly-An Fraser-Pryce, the double Olympic 100m Champion who became the first woman in World Championship history to win triple Gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m!

Audio is courtesy of Hot102FM in Jamaica. Watch out in the next few days as I release more snippets from our Sportsline conversation yesterday!

Last night I made an appearance on Sportsline, a Jamaican radio show on their Hot102FM channel to review the just concluded World Championships. I shared the airwaves with none other than MVP President Bruce James who focused on Jamaica’s 6 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze medal performances at the Championships, while I brought the outsider’s perspective, speaking mainly on the double medal feats of Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria and Murielle Ahoure of Cote d’Ivoire. See my blog for the interview:

http://makingofchampions.net/2013/08/21/discussing-nigerian-athletics-on-hot102fm-in-jamaica/

In this 9 minute section of the show, we discuss the Making of Champions documentary, the blog, investment in athletics in Nigeria, and Bruce James quizzes me on why Nigeria entered Blessing into 4 different events (100m, 200m, Long Jump and 4x100m) for these Championships! Click on the below to listen to our discussion…enjoy! (You might be wondering how come I appeared on a radio show in Jamaica yesterday? Well, the station dialled me into the discussion from my current base in the UK!)

Bruce James is more or less one of the founding fathers of the age of the Professional Track Club in Jamaica, after playing a pivotal role in setting up MVP Track & Field Club in 1999 – MVP is home to the likes of Shelly-An Fraser-Pryce, the double Olympic 100m Champion who became the first woman in World Championship history to win triple Gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m!

Audio is courtesy of Hot102FM in Jamaica. Watch out in the next few days as I release more snippets from our Sportsline conversation yesterday!

http://makingofchampions.net/2013/08/18/okagbare-ensures-nigeria-leave-moscow-with-2-medals-ahoure-does-same-for-cote-divoire/

On Friday evening, Blessing Okagbare won her second World Championship medal in a week – bronze in the 200 metres – to ensure that Nigerians for the first time since 1999 had something to celebrate at the end of these championships. Indeed, Blessing single-handedly ensured that Nigeria equaled its best ever medal tally of 1 Silver and 1 Bronze at a World Championship, from 1999 when Glory Alozie took Silver in the 100m hurdles and Francis Obikwelu took Bronze in the 200 metres. Sadly for Nigeria, Alozie and Obikwelu, its two best athletes from that era, switched to Spain and Portugal respectively, both in 2001, creating a void which has since been left unfilled until now!

Blessing’s feat ensured that she became the first ever Nigerian to become a double individual medallist at either the World Champs or the Olympics, and doing it within the same championships should be especially commended. Blessing had the busiest schedule of any athlete in Moscow, competing in the 100m, 200m and Long Jump, and but for that hectic schedule, she may have also medalled in the 100 metres – I am extremely happy for her that she won that Bronze in the 200 metres and put to bed any suggestions that even I had prematurely raised about her not performing when it mattered the most. This lady is truly a Championship performer, and her 2 medals from 3 events in a packed week is more than enough evidence of that!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJgP6pCtIFo

Including her Long Jump bronze from the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Blessing is already well on her way to becoming Nigeria’s most decorated athlete of all time. I would love to see her continue to attack all 3 events at major championships, but she may have to decide in the future to forego one (maybe the long jump?) to improve her chances in the other two. Certainly if the women’s long jump is not moved from the day before the 100 metre final in future championships, that might continue to hamper her best prospects in the marquis sprint event. Perhaps organisers could adjust the schedule to accommodate an athlete as supremely gifted as Blessing? In the past this has been considered for the likes of Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson, in their bids in years gone by to win multiple events at major championships!

Cote d’Ivoire’s Murielle Ahoure also had a fantastic championship, finishing with Silver behind Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in both the 100m and 200m. This lady has stepped up massively from her 7th and 6th place finishes at the Olympics last year, and these are her country’s first ever medals at a World Championships in the 30 year history of the event! Both ladies can only gain more confidence from their medals, and personally I am looking forward to a great rivalry between them for years to come. Granted, my prediction that at least one of them would break the 200 metre African record on Friday night did not come to pass, but I look forward to seeing both of them in the coming years going for both Mary Onyali’s 200 metre record (22.07s) and Blessing’s 100m African record (10.79s)! Both of them will be looking towards Rio 2016, and the possibility of breaking Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s dominance in the 100m (and now the 200m) by then!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqq6X7PEivo

If Ahoure and Okagbare continue to develop and progress the way that they have so far, they could well lead the way for the renaissance of world class sprinting (and jumping) in Africa. That said, the incredible successes of these two great athletes should not paper over the fact that countries like Cote d’Ivoire (with 23 million people) and Nigeria especially (with over 170 million people) could and should be doing a lot better in Athletics. It should be noted that both Murielle and Blessing as sprinters are products of the American collegiate system. Obviously Blessing’s Olympic Bronze medal in 2008 showed that with her natural talent she had the potential to become a big star, but she would not have had the opportunity to blossom the way she has if she had stayed in Nigeria. There is simply no programme in Nigeria or elsewhere in West Africa that allows for natural athletic talents to be moulded into world class performers – think of how many people with talent similar to Kirani James or even Usain Bolt who will never be discovered or developed in Africa? Perhaps it is time for Africa to take a leaf out of Jamaica’s book and stop outsourcing the development of its athletes to the American college system?

Here’s another look at my video short entitled “Long Distance”, showing how far behind Jamaica that Nigeria has fallen in Athletics - we used to be on par back in the nineties!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdGPwUz7Guw

http://makingofchampions.net/2013/08/18/okagbare-ensures-nigeria-leave-moscow-with-2-medals-ahoure-does-same-for-cote-divoire/

On Friday evening, Blessing Okagbare won her second World Championship medal in a week – bronze in the 200 metres – to ensure that Nigerians for the first time since 1999 had something to celebrate at the end of these championships. Indeed, Blessing single-handedly ensured that Nigeria equaled its best ever medal tally of 1 Silver and 1 Bronze at a World Championship, from 1999 when Glory Alozie took Silver in the 100m hurdles and Francis Obikwelu took Bronze in the 200 metres. Sadly for Nigeria, Alozie and Obikwelu, its two best athletes from that era, switched to Spain and Portugal respectively, both in 2001, creating a void which has since been left unfilled until now!

Blessing’s feat ensured that she became the first ever Nigerian to become a double individual medallist at either the World Champs or the Olympics, and doing it within the same championships should be especially commended. Blessing had the busiest schedule of any athlete in Moscow, competing in the 100m, 200m and Long Jump, and but for that hectic schedule, she may have also medalled in the 100 metres – I am extremely happy for her that she won that Bronze in the 200 metres and put to bed any suggestions that even I had prematurely raised about her not performing when it mattered the most. This lady is truly a Championship performer, and her 2 medals from 3 events in a packed week is more than enough evidence of that!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJgP6pCtIFo

Including her Long Jump bronze from the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Blessing is already well on her way to becoming Nigeria’s most decorated athlete of all time. I would love to see her continue to attack all 3 events at major championships, but she may have to decide in the future to forego one (maybe the long jump?) to improve her chances in the other two. Certainly if the women’s long jump is not moved from the day before the 100 metre final in future championships, that might continue to hamper her best prospects in the marquis sprint event. Perhaps organisers could adjust the schedule to accommodate an athlete as supremely gifted as Blessing? In the past this has been considered for the likes of Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson, in their bids in years gone by to win multiple events at major championships!

Cote d’Ivoire’s Murielle Ahoure also had a fantastic championship, finishing with Silver behind Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in both the 100m and 200m. This lady has stepped up massively from her 7th and 6th place finishes at the Olympics last year, and these are her country’s first ever medals at a World Championships in the 30 year history of the event! Both ladies can only gain more confidence from their medals, and personally I am looking forward to a great rivalry between them for years to come. Granted, my prediction that at least one of them would break the 200 metre African record on Friday night did not come to pass, but I look forward to seeing both of them in the coming years going for both Mary Onyali’s 200 metre record (22.07s) and Blessing’s 100m African record (10.79s)! Both of them will be looking towards Rio 2016, and the possibility of breaking Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s dominance in the 100m (and now the 200m) by then!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqq6X7PEivo

If Ahoure and Okagbare continue to develop and progress the way that they have so far, they could well lead the way for the renaissance of world class sprinting (and jumping) in Africa. That said, the incredible successes of these two great athletes should not paper over the fact that countries like Cote d’Ivoire (with 23 million people) and Nigeria especially (with over 170 million people) could and should be doing a lot better in Athletics. It should be noted that both Murielle and Blessing as sprinters are products of the American collegiate system. Obviously Blessing’s Olympic Bronze medal in 2008 showed that with her natural talent she had the potential to become a big star, but she would not have had the opportunity to blossom the way she has if she had stayed in Nigeria. There is simply no programme in Nigeria or elsewhere in West Africa that allows for natural athletic talents to be moulded into world class performers – think of how many people with talent similar to Kirani James or even Usain Bolt who will never be discovered or developed in Africa? Perhaps it is time for Africa to take a leaf out of Jamaica’s book and stop outsourcing the development of its athletes to the American college system?

Here’s another look at my video short entitled “Long Distance”, showing how far behind Jamaica that Nigeria has fallen in Athletics - we used to be on par back in the nineties!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdGPwUz7Guw

Afam4eva:
I missed it. Where can i watch the replay?

Nigeria was only 2nd in the semi-final. Through to the final in 5th place overall - don't think that we can really improve on that in the final with the likes of the US, Russia & Jamaica able to bring in better runners to go even faster. Team GB, despite losing Perri Shakes-Drayton to injury, will still be in the mix for medals...

You've got to hail Regina George's last leg run though - she made up about 15 metres on the French girl. I'd really like to see her split on that one - it must have come close to 50.0! She's a star in the making if we can manage her well...

akintun:

Gloria has not been happy with d special treatment AFN alway seem to give Okagbare . At d trials she complained about it. She would most likely compete because of d financial incentive involved.

What kind of special treatment are you talking about? Even Blessing complained the AFN at the trials...

akintun: D 200m performance from d Ukrainians has shown dat Nig chances of getting a bronze in d 4 x 100 is actually very slim.

Bahamas will be there in 4x100m, and probably even Trinidad & Tobago, despite the absence of Kelly-Ann Baptiste...but Nigeria should make the final, and from there ANYTHING is really possible - dropped battons, poor exchanges, etc...the relays are really the most difficult event to predict so I think a Bronze could still be possible...

ritux: I don't want to be pessimistic here, but I don't see Blessing getting a medal in this 200M race. I am not impressed with what I just saw.

Not sure what race you were watching, she jogged the last 100 metres practically...anyway, the semi-finals this evening will give us a much better clue as to what to expect in the final tomorrow...

http://makingofchampions.net/2013/08/14/ahoure-and-okagbare-lead-africas-charge-for-200-metre-gold/

Before assessing the medal chances of Murielle Ahoure and Blessing Okagbare in the 200 metres starting tomorrow, it would be remiss of me not to hail Ahoure’s Silver medal in the 100 metres on Monday night – the first medal of any colour for Cote d’Ivoire in the 30-year history of the World Championships! Despite not being mentioned as a medal contender by most commentators, Murielle’s record making Silver medal should not come as a big surprise. Along with Blessing, she has been steadily improving over the last couple of years, leading the way for African athletes to mix it with the best in the world. Ahoure actually finished 7th and 6th respectively in the 100m and 200m finals at London 2012, so after stepping up to Silver in Moscow, she will go into the 200m tomorrow with full confidence that she can get a medal there as well. In a country that usually only has their football stars such as Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure to cheer about, she is quickly becoming a national celebrity in her own right. Her interview following her Silver medal performance is in French, but having lived in the US since she was a teenager, she also speaks English fluently – this was her after the heats on Sunday:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvf6tIv_RpY

So which of Ahoure and Okagbare carry Africa’s best hope for a medal in the 200 metres? This is definitely a tight call. Both have run three 200m races each this season, and both are unbeaten. Both have beaten Shelly-An Fraser-Pryce over this distance in the Diamond League this season, Murielle in Monaco, and Blessing in Birmingham. Ahoure even beat Olympic Champion Allyson Felix in Rome, with the absolute swagger of a woman who knows that she’s in great form this season. Every time Ahoure steps on to the track and runs a Personal Best, she sets a new National Record – this was the case with the 22.36s in Rome and the 22.24s in Monaco, which is the second fastest time in the world this year so far, behind the 22.13s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ran at the Jamaican trials. One can certainly not count Ahoure out of the medal reckoning in the 200 metres – watch out for yet another National Record, which she will probably need to get a medal!

Blessing will be looking to quickly get over the disappointment of her 6th place finish in the 100 metres on Monday night, to grab a much needed medal in the 200 metres. For the form that she’s been in this year, it would be unwise to discount her despite things not going according to plan for her in the 100 – I have been saying since we started seeing her coming from behind to win 100 metre races at the London Olympics last year, that the 200 metre would most likely become her more dominant event, and now she has a fantastic opportunity to show just that. Blessing set her 200m PB of 22.31s in her first race of the outdoor season in California in April, and with a PB and new African Record of 10.79s in the shorter sprint, I really do think that Mary Onyali’s 200m African Record of 22.07s is under threat from Blessing – I think she has the potential to go under 22 seconds, and that certainly would be more than enough for some colour of medal.

It goes without saying that the 200 metres is going to be billed by all commentators as a head-to-head duel between Allyson Felix and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. It would certainly be foolish to discount the London 2012 Gold and Silver medallists at this distance. If Allyson runs at her best, she is probably unbeatable, but has only won two of her four races this season, surprisingly losing to newcomer Kimberlyn Duncan at the US trials, and to Ahoure in that race in Rome. She did win her final outing before Moscow at the London Anniversary Games, so maybe she is coming back into form at the right time. If she can return to her Personal Best form (21.69s) then she will likely not be stopped from winning back her 200m world title that she relinquished to Veronica Campbell-Brown 2 years ago in Daegu. As for Shelly-Ann, she is in such imperious form, winning the 100m so emphatically on Monday night, that one can be forgiven for assuming that the 200m will be a straight fight between her and Felix. But can she sustain her incredible 100m speed over the longer distance against some of the taller girls, like Blessing? Only time will tell, but surely it would be a surprise to see her finish outside of the medals.

One can also not discount the other Americans, Kimberlyn Duncan and Jeneba Tarmoh, who should also certainly make the final, and the Bahamians Anthonique Strachan and Shaunae Miller, who are my dark horses for this event. Strachan especially, who was the double 100m and 200m Junior (U-20) World Champion last year, should also make the final and from then on anything is possible – she is fifth fastest in the world this year with 22.32s so perhaps she may even threaten the Bahamian Record of 22.19s set all the way back in 1999 by one Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie. Miller is probably a year behind Strachan in terms of development, so I expect she would be happy to just make the final. I don’t really expect an individual medal for either of them at these championships, but expect great things from both of them in the future – having travelled to the Bahamas this year to watch the Caribbean Junior and Youth Games (CARIFTA), I can attest that the amount of talent the Bahamas is churning out with a population of only 350,000 people is simply astonishing!

Does my analysis mean that Blessing and Murielle are fighting for just one medal, likely to be Bronze? Perhaps, but not necessarily. It would take an upset of one of the huge favourites for Africa to get two medals in an event in which no African woman has ever won a World Championship medal, but we have already seen huge upsets this week, with Amantle Montsho losing the 400m by a nose to Christine Ohuruogu, and Olympic Champion Kirani James being comprehensively defeated by Lashawn Merritt at the same distance. One thing’s almost certain for me – Mary Onyali’s African Record will be up for grabs come Friday, but will it be broken by Ahoure or Okagbare? Or indeed by both of them? Who will come out on top in this 200m sub-plot, the battle for the title “Queen of African Sprinting”? After the 100 metres, it’s already one-nil to Ahoure. Which of them will medal in the 200 metres? I for one certainly hope that it can be both of them!

Okagbare goes in Heat 2 in the first round of the 200 metres at 8.02am (British Summer Time / Nigerian Time) tomorrow, while Ahoure is in Heat 7 at 8.37am. The semi-finals are also tomorrow, from 4.45pm, and the Final is at 6.15pm on Friday. Go Team Naija, and Go Team CIV!

http://makingofchampions.net/2013/08/14/ahoure-and-okagbare-lead-africas-charge-for-200-metre-gold/

Before assessing the medal chances of Murielle Ahoure and Blessing Okagbare in the 200 metres starting tomorrow, it would be remiss of me not to hail Ahoure’s Silver medal in the 100 metres on Monday night – the first medal of any colour for Cote d’Ivoire in the 30-year history of the World Championships! Despite not being mentioned as a medal contender by most commentators, Murielle’s record making Silver medal should not come as a big surprise. Along with Blessing, she has been steadily improving over the last couple of years, leading the way for African athletes to mix it with the best in the world. Ahoure actually finished 7th and 6th respectively in the 100m and 200m finals at London 2012, so after stepping up to Silver in Moscow, she will go into the 200m tomorrow with full confidence that she can get a medal there as well. In a country that usually only has their football stars such as Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure to cheer about, she is quickly becoming a national celebrity in her own right. Her interview following her Silver medal performance is in French, but having lived in the US since she was a teenager, she also speaks English fluently – this was her after the heats on Sunday:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvf6tIv_RpY

So which of Ahoure and Okagbare carry Africa’s best hope for a medal in the 200 metres? This is definitely a tight call. Both have run three 200m races each this season, and both are unbeaten. Both have beaten Shelly-An Fraser-Pryce over this distance in the Diamond League this season, Murielle in Monaco, and Blessing in Birmingham. Ahoure even beat Olympic Champion Allyson Felix in Rome, with the absolute swagger of a woman who knows that she’s in great form this season. Every time Ahoure steps on to the track and runs a Personal Best, she sets a new National Record – this was the case with the 22.36s in Rome and the 22.24s in Monaco, which is the second fastest time in the world this year so far, behind the 22.13s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ran at the Jamaican trials. One can certainly not count Ahoure out of the medal reckoning in the 200 metres – watch out for yet another National Record, which she will probably need to get a medal!

Blessing will be looking to quickly get over the disappointment of her 6th place finish in the 100 metres on Monday night, to grab a much needed medal in the 200 metres. For the form that she’s been in this year, it would be unwise to discount her despite things not going according to plan for her in the 100 – I have been saying since we started seeing her coming from behind to win 100 metre races at the London Olympics last year, that the 200 metre would most likely become her more dominant event, and now she has a fantastic opportunity to show just that. Blessing set her 200m PB of 22.31s in her first race of the outdoor season in California in April, and with a PB and new African Record of 10.79s in the shorter sprint, I really do think that Mary Onyali’s 200m African Record of 22.07s is under threat from Blessing – I think she has the potential to go under 22 seconds, and that certainly would be more than enough for some colour of medal.

It goes without saying that the 200 metres is going to be billed by all commentators as a head-to-head duel between Allyson Felix and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. It would certainly be foolish to discount the London 2012 Gold and Silver medallists at this distance. If Allyson runs at her best, she is probably unbeatable, but has only won two of her four races this season, surprisingly losing to newcomer Kimberlyn Duncan at the US trials, and to Ahoure in that race in Rome. She did win her final outing before Moscow at the London Anniversary Games, so maybe she is coming back into form at the right time. If she can return to her Personal Best form (21.69s) then she will likely not be stopped from winning back her 200m world title that she relinquished to Veronica Campbell-Brown 2 years ago in Daegu. As for Shelly-Ann, she is in such imperious form, winning the 100m so emphatically on Monday night, that one can be forgiven for assuming that the 200m will be a straight fight between her and Felix. But can she sustain her incredible 100m speed over the longer distance against some of the taller girls, like Blessing? Only time will tell, but surely it would be a surprise to see her finish outside of the medals.

One can also not discount the other Americans, Kimberlyn Duncan and Jeneba Tarmoh, who should also certainly make the final, and the Bahamians Anthonique Strachan and Shaunae Miller, who are my dark horses for this event. Strachan especially, who was the double 100m and 200m Junior (U-20) World Champion last year, should also make the final and from then on anything is possible – she is fifth fastest in the world this year with 22.32s so perhaps she may even threaten the Bahamian Record of 22.19s set all the way back in 1999 by one Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie. Miller is probably a year behind Strachan in terms of development, so I expect she would be happy to just make the final. I don’t really expect an individual medal for either of them at these championships, but expect great things from both of them in the future – having travelled to the Bahamas this year to watch the Caribbean Junior and Youth Games (CARIFTA), I can attest that the amount of talent the Bahamas is churning out with a population of only 350,000 people is simply astonishing!

Does my analysis mean that Blessing and Murielle are fighting for just one medal, likely to be Bronze? Perhaps, but not necessarily. It would take an upset of one of the huge favourites for Africa to get two medals in an event in which no African woman has ever won a World Championship medal, but we have already seen huge upsets this week, with Amantle Montsho losing the 400m by a nose to Christine Ohuruogu, and Olympic Champion Kirani James being comprehensively defeated by Lashawn Merritt at the same distance. One thing’s almost certain for me – Mary Onyali’s African Record will be up for grabs come Friday, but will it be broken by Ahoure or Okagbare? Or indeed by both of them? Who will come out on top in this 200m sub-plot, the battle for the title “Queen of African Sprinting”? After the 100 metres, it’s already one-nil to Ahoure. Which of them will medal in the 200 metres? I for one certainly hope that it can be both of them!

Okagbare goes in Heat 2 in the first round of the 200 metres at 8.02am (British Summer Time / Nigerian Time) tomorrow, while Ahoure is in Heat 7 at 8.37am. The semi-finals are also tomorrow, from 4.45pm, and the Final is at 6.15pm on Friday. Go Team Naija, and Go Team CIV!

http://makingofchampions.net/2013/08/12/blessing-and-the-asafa-powell-syndrome/

If Blessing Okagbare delighted Nigerians yesterday with the nation’s first World Championship medal since 1999, the 100 metre final today was to end in disappointment for Blessing and the millions of Nigerians who would have tuned into the race to see if she could possibly challenge the mercurial Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce for the title, as she had been threatening to all season. Unfortunately for Blessing, she finished a disappointing sixth in a performance quite reminiscent of her eighth place finish in the Olympic 100m Finals last year. Similar to last year, Blessing came into the big championship after a great season that set her apart as a serious medal contender in the 100m. This season her performances have been even more emphatic than the last – when you think that in every single one of her races this season over the 100m, she finished in either 1st or 2nd position, only losing to Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (but getting closer to her with each race), one could have been forgiven for quietly hoping that she could upset the diminutive Jamaican in Moscow. Certainly Blessing was a shoe-in for at least the Silver medal, especially after breaking the African record twice in one day, with 10.86s and 10.79s runs in the space of 90 minutes at the London Anniversary Games two weeks ago. If she had reproduced either of those runs she would be the silver medalist right now…

So what went wrong for Blessing? Was it that the long jump competition yesterday took a lot out of her, so she couldn’t produce her best 100m today? Did she pick up a knock of some sort from the long jump? Her 100m rounds seemed like she was running well within herself and conserving her energy for the final, so how come she could not produce the goods when it mattered the most? Everyone who watches women’s sprinting at the moment will know that Blessing is not the greatest starter and will not be at the front of the race after 50 or 60 metres, but much like Christine Ohuruogu in the 400 metres (congratulations to her on the win today!), she will catch all the other girls before the line, unless they get a start like Shelly-Ann did today. For Blessing, after 50 or 60 metres today, she was exactly where she always is in her races at that stage, but at that point she seemed to drop her head – that drive to the line that has become her trademark evaporated. Either the energy just wasn’t there (which I doubt was the case, after seeing how she put those two races she put together at the London Anniversary Games) or perhaps this was because she could see that Shelly-Ann was well ahead and was not going to be caught?

If the latter is the case, then it casts the mind back to Asafa Powell, who went into multiple Olympic Games and World Championships as one of the favourites for GOLD, but often finished with nothing, after more or less giving up during races after realizing that he wasn’t going to win – I reckon that he probably threw away a Silver or Bronze on a couple of occasions because he mentally gave up after realizing he wasn’t going to get the GOLD. Luckily for him, he eventually won a couple of Bronze medals at the World Champs, but there was a 4 year period (for 3 of those years he was the World Record Holder) where he should have won everything available to him before Usain Bolt showed up. Unfortunately for Blessing, after failing to deliver a medal in two consecutive global finals where she had strong prospects, it may take her some time to shake off the tag of someone who doesn’t deliver when it matters the most. She is in that 4-year period where she needs to be wresting the 100m mantle away from the likes of Shelly-Ann and her training partner Carmelita Jeter. Come Rio 2016, who knows how good the young Americans who all made today’s final (English Gardner, Alexandria Anderson and Octavious Freeman) are going to be, and who knows who else is going to show up in women’s sprinting by then. This should have been Blessing’s moment to shine, to strike while the iron is hot…

The London 2012 final would have been disappointing for her, but this one will hurt even more because she will know that if she had executed the way she can, in the form that she’s been in this year, she would be Nigeria’s first ever medalist in the individual 100 metres right now. Now she has to wait 2 years for another opportunity to be in this position, and even if she is the best in the world by then, there will be question marks as to whether she has the temperament for the big moment, until she actually wins a global title or medal in the 100 metres. Luckily for Blessing, she has an immediate chance to put things right for herself later this week in the 200 metres, the event I have always thought is going to be her better event. If Blessing was reading this, I would encourage her to put today behind her very quickly and come out like a wounded lionness for the 200 metres. She will desperately need it now, to immediately put to bed any self-doubt that would be creeping in now about her own ability to deliver on the biggest stage. I still believe that Blessing is going to take Mary Onyali’s 200 metre African Record of 22.07s this week enroute to a medal in that event. All the talk will be about Allyson Felix and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce going head to head for GOLD in that event, but I would urge all Nigerians to put their support fully behind her, so that she can put today’s performance behind her as quickly as possible.

For Nigeria, if anything today has shown, it is that we must STOP relying on only one athlete for Track & Field success by implementing a world-class program at home, that will allow us rival the Americans and Jamaicans on a consistent basis. Jamaica had 4 men in the 100m final yesterday and ended up with 2 medals there, while the US had 4 women in today’s final and finished with one medal. It should be noted that the Afro-Caribbeans and African Americans who currently dominate sprinting are mostly descended from West Africa, so essentially there is a lot more of that same talent they have wasting away in West Africa, where Nigeria should be leading the way with a population of 170 million (compared to Jamaica’s population of just 3 million)! When will Nigeria once again start producing multiple sub-10 men and sub-11 women who can do the country proud consistently on the global stage? Only time will tell!

http://makingofchampions.net/2013/08/12/blessing-and-the-asafa-powell-syndrome/

If Blessing Okagbare delighted Nigerians yesterday with the nation’s first World Championship medal since 1999, the 100 metre final today was to end in disappointment for Blessing and the millions of Nigerians who would have tuned into the race to see if she could possibly challenge the mercurial Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce for the title, as she had been threatening to all season. Unfortunately for Blessing, she finished a disappointing sixth in a performance quite reminiscent of her eighth place finish in the Olympic 100m Finals last year. Similar to last year, Blessing came into the big championship after a great season that set her apart as a serious medal contender in the 100m. This season her performances have been even more emphatic than the last – when you think that in every single one of her races this season over the 100m, she finished in either 1st or 2nd position, only losing to Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (but getting closer to her with each race), one could have been forgiven for quietly hoping that she could upset the diminutive Jamaican in Moscow. Certainly Blessing was a shoe-in for at least the Silver medal, especially after breaking the African record twice in one day, with 10.86s and 10.79s runs in the space of 90 minutes at the London Anniversary Games two weeks ago. If she had reproduced either of those runs she would be the silver medalist right now…

So what went wrong for Blessing? Was it that the long jump competition yesterday took a lot out of her, so she couldn’t produce her best 100m today? Did she pick up a knock of some sort from the long jump? Her 100m rounds seemed like she was running well within herself and conserving her energy for the final, so how come she could not produce the goods when it mattered the most? Everyone who watches women’s sprinting at the moment will know that Blessing is not the greatest starter and will not be at the front of the race after 50 or 60 metres, but much like Christine Ohuruogu in the 400 metres (congratulations to her on the win today!), she will catch all the other girls before the line, unless they get a start like Shelly-Ann did today. For Blessing, after 50 or 60 metres today, she was exactly where she always is in her races at that stage, but at that point she seemed to drop her head – that drive to the line that has become her trademark evaporated. Either the energy just wasn’t there (which I doubt was the case, after seeing how she put those two races she put together at the London Anniversary Games) or perhaps this was because she could see that Shelly-Ann was well ahead and was not going to be caught?

If the latter is the case, then it casts the mind back to Asafa Powell, who went into multiple Olympic Games and World Championships as one of the favourites for GOLD, but often finished with nothing, after more or less giving up during races after realizing that he wasn’t going to win – I reckon that he probably threw away a Silver or Bronze on a couple of occasions because he mentally gave up after realizing he wasn’t going to get the GOLD. Luckily for him, he eventually won a couple of Bronze medals at the World Champs, but there was a 4 year period (for 3 of those years he was the World Record Holder) where he should have won everything available to him before Usain Bolt showed up. Unfortunately for Blessing, after failing to deliver a medal in two consecutive global finals where she had strong prospects, it may take her some time to shake off the tag of someone who doesn’t deliver when it matters the most. She is in that 4-year period where she needs to be wresting the 100m mantle away from the likes of Shelly-Ann and her training partner Carmelita Jeter. Come Rio 2016, who knows how good the young Americans who all made today’s final (English Gardner, Alexandria Anderson and Octavious Freeman) are going to be, and who knows who else is going to show up in women’s sprinting by then. This should have been Blessing’s moment to shine, to strike while the iron is hot…

The London 2012 final would have been disappointing for her, but this one will hurt even more because she will know that if she had executed the way she can, in the form that she’s been in this year, she would be Nigeria’s first ever medalist in the individual 100 metres right now. Now she has to wait 2 years for another opportunity to be in this position, and even if she is the best in the world by then, there will be question marks as to whether she has the temperament for the big moment, until she actually wins a global title or medal in the 100 metres. Luckily for Blessing, she has an immediate chance to put things right for herself later this week in the 200 metres, the event I have always thought is going to be her better event. If Blessing was reading this, I would encourage her to put today behind her very quickly and come out like a wounded lionness for the 200 metres. She will desperately need it now, to immediately put to bed any self-doubt that would be creeping in now about her own ability to deliver on the biggest stage. I still believe that Blessing is going to take Mary Onyali’s 200 metre African Record of 22.07s this week enroute to a medal in that event. All the talk will be about Allyson Felix and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce going head to head for GOLD in that event, but I would urge all Nigerians to put their support fully behind her, so that she can put today’s performance behind her as quickly as possible.

For Nigeria, if anything today has shown, it is that we must STOP relying on only one athlete for Track & Field success by implementing a world-class program at home, that will allow us rival the Americans and Jamaicans on a consistent basis. Jamaica had 4 men in the 100m final yesterday and ended up with 2 medals there, while the US had 4 women in today’s final and finished with one medal. It should be noted that the Afro-Caribbeans and African Americans who currently dominate sprinting are mostly descended from West Africa, so essentially there is a lot more of that same talent they have wasting away in West Africa, where Nigeria should be leading the way with a population of 170 million (compared to Jamaica’s population of just 3 million)! When will Nigeria once again start producing multiple sub-10 men and sub-11 women who can do the country proud consistently on the global stage? Only time will tell!

http://makingofchampions.net/2013/08/12/blessing-and-the-asafa-powell-syndrome/

If Blessing Okagbare delighted Nigerians yesterday with the nation’s first World Championship medal since 1999, the 100 metre final today was to end in disappointment for Blessing and the millions of Nigerians who would have tuned into the race to see if she could possibly challenge the mercurial Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce for the title, as she had been threatening to all season. Unfortunately for Blessing, she finished a disappointing sixth in a performance quite reminiscent of her eighth place finish in the Olympic 100m Finals last year. Similar to last year, Blessing came into the big championship after a great season that set her apart as a serious medal contender in the 100m. This season her performances have been even more emphatic than the last – when you think that in every single one of her races this season over the 100m, she finished in either 1st or 2nd position, only losing to Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (but getting closer to her with each race), one could have been forgiven for quietly hoping that she could upset the diminutive Jamaican in Moscow. Certainly Blessing was a shoe-in for at least the Silver medal, especially after breaking the African record twice in one day, with 10.86s and 10.79s runs in the space of 90 minutes at the London Anniversary Games two weeks ago. If she had reproduced either of those runs she would be the silver medalist right now…

So what went wrong for Blessing? Was it that the long jump competition yesterday took a lot out of her, so she couldn’t produce her best 100m today? Did she pick up a knock of some sort from the long jump? Her 100m rounds seemed like she was running well within herself and conserving her energy for the final, so how come she could not produce the goods when it mattered the most? Everyone who watches women’s sprinting at the moment will know that Blessing is not the greatest starter and will not be at the front of the race after 50 or 60 metres, but much like Christine Ohuruogu in the 400 metres (congratulations to her on the win today!), she will catch all the other girls before the line, unless they get a start like Shelly-Ann did today. For Blessing, after 50 or 60 metres today, she was exactly where she always is in her races at that stage, but at that point she seemed to drop her head – that drive to the line that has become her trademark evaporated. Either the energy just wasn’t there (which I doubt was the case, after seeing how she put those two races she put together at the London Anniversary Games) or perhaps this was because she could see that Shelly-Ann was well ahead and was not going to be caught?

If the latter is the case, then it casts the mind back to Asafa Powell, who went into multiple Olympic Games and World Championships as one of the favourites for GOLD, but often finished with nothing, after more or less giving up during races after realizing that he wasn’t going to win – I reckon that he probably threw away a Silver or Bronze on a couple of occasions because he mentally gave up after realizing he wasn’t going to get the GOLD. Luckily for him, he eventually won a couple of Bronze medals at the World Champs, but there was a 4 year period (for 3 of those years he was the World Record Holder) where he should have won everything available to him before Usain Bolt showed up. Unfortunately for Blessing, after failing to deliver a medal in two consecutive global finals where she had strong prospects, it may take her some time to shake off the tag of someone who doesn’t deliver when it matters the most. She is in that 4-year period where she needs to be wresting the 100m mantle away from the likes of Shelly-Ann and her training partner Carmelita Jeter. Come Rio 2016, who knows how good the young Americans who all made today’s final (English Gardner, Alexandria Anderson and Octavious Freeman) are going to be, and who knows who else is going to show up in women’s sprinting by then. This should have been Blessing’s moment to shine, to strike while the iron is hot…

The London 2012 final would have been disappointing for her, but this one will hurt even more because she will know that if she had executed the way she can, in the form that she’s been in this year, she would be Nigeria’s first ever medalist in the individual 100 metres right now. Now she has to wait 2 years for another opportunity to be in this position, and even if she is the best in the world by then, there will be question marks as to whether she has the temperament for the big moment, until she actually wins a global title or medal in the 100 metres. Luckily for Blessing, she has an immediate chance to put things right for herself later this week in the 200 metres, the event I have always thought is going to be her better event. If Blessing was reading this, I would encourage her to put today behind her very quickly and come out like a wounded lionness for the 200 metres. She will desperately need it now, to immediately put to bed any self-doubt that would be creeping in now about her own ability to deliver on the biggest stage. I still believe that Blessing is going to take Mary Onyali’s 200 metre African Record of 22.07s this week enroute to a medal in that event. All the talk will be about Allyson Felix and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce going head to head for GOLD in that event, but I would urge all Nigerians to put their support fully behind her, so that she can put today’s performance behind her as quickly as possible.

For Nigeria, if anything today has shown, it is that we must STOP relying on only one athlete for Track & Field success by implementing a world-class program at home, that will allow us rival the Americans and Jamaicans on a consistent basis. Jamaica had 4 men in the 100m final yesterday and ended up with 2 medals there, while the US had 4 women in today’s final and finished with one medal. It should be noted that the Afro-Caribbeans and African Americans who currently dominate sprinting are mostly descended from West Africa, so essentially there is a lot more of that same talent they have wasting away in West Africa, where Nigeria should be leading the way with a population of 170 million (compared to Jamaica’s population of just 3 million)! When will Nigeria once again start producing multiple sub-10 men and sub-11 women who can do the country proud consistently on the global stage? Only time will tell!

k-solo2013:
if she break a world record she can get the 100k at once

like which World Record is she gonna break? 10.49? 21.34? Both well out of reach, thanks to Flo Jo!

CFCfan: And Ugonna Ndu is out. She finished 7th.

Well done to Ugonna for even making the World Championship team. She's only 21 and recently switched allegiance from the US to Nigeria. She's already Nigeria's 100m hurdle Champion from her first appearance at the National Championships in June, and she finished 2nd there behind Odumosu in the 400m hurdles I think...

She's technically a good hurdler but I think needs to get stronger and faster. She should be encouraged because she has a lot of room for improvement!

k-solo2013:
that odumosu babe looks scared and tension got the better of her and she got experience at this lever, what a shame

I don't think it was nerves. I believe that Odumosu simply did not want to be out there. She's not been running well this season - I remember her finishing last or so in the Diamond League event in Birmingham a few weeks ago, I think she had an injury...

I have a feeling that she knew she was not going to make it through the rounds, but being obligated to compete she had to line up at the start of the race...the false starts (especially the first one) were so blatant that you have to wonder whether she did it intentionally...you rarely see false starts in 400m races...and twice from the same athlete in the same race? That's very unusually...it's also rather odd that they let her stay on the first time. Seems like she may have just been intent on getting herself disqualified!

That's too bad because she made the Olympic final last year. Let's hope she can pick herself up from this disappointment!

biolabee: Dude. No need for all the long epistle..

You say she is 24.. I doubt it..

But time will tell as you rightly pointed..

If her age is genuine she will sttill be relevant and peak in another 4 - 5 years time

But if not..

Sounds like you will always doubt any Nigerian sportsperson's age, even if you have no reason to, apart from the fact that they were born in Naija! Well, good luck to you - let's just enjoy Blessing bringing Naija some global recognition for a change and see what she does the rest of the week!

Here's my article from yesterday on Blessing's Silver medal in the Long Jump!

http://makingofchampions.net/2013/08/11/blessing-okagbare-wins-nigerias-first-world-championship-medal-since-1999/

Earlier today, Sunday August 11th 2013, in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Blessing Okagbare came as close as any Nigerian has ever come to becoming a World Champion in Athletics, when she finished 2 centimetres behind the unpredictable, yet ever-present Brittney Reese in the Long Jump – unpredictable because Reese sneaked into today’s final in 12th place of 12 athletes and on countback against her American teammate Funmi Jimoh who also jumped only 6.57m in qualifying on Saturday, but ever-present because the Olympic Champion won an unprecedented 3rd World Championship GOLD medal in a row. Blessing gave it her all with her 6.99m jump, only 1 centimetre behind her personal best, but she was always likely going to have to jump a new PB and go over 7 metres to win the GOLD. As I mentioned in my previous post on Blessing’s chances at the World Championships, my heart said GOLD, but my head said that Brittney Reese would take some beating!

Reese, despite an indifferent season that had somewhat gone downhill since she jumped 7.25m in the Doha leg of the Diamond League in May, produced the goods when it mattered the most with her 7.01m jump in Moscow. In contrast, since Blessing’s wind-assisted 7.14m jump in Doha, she’s been the most consistent jumper throughout the season, winning at the Diamond League in Lausanne and Monaco in new PBs of 6.98m and 7.00m respectively. So Blessing maintained that consistency, but just was not able to produce another PB today – even if she had improved it by 1cm, she would have won on countback (due to her next highest jump of 6.96m being better than Reese’s next highest of 6.95m). Amazing how a centimetre or two can decide championships!

Blessing’s momentous achievement cannot be understated – it is Nigeria’s first World Championship medal of any colour in 7 attempts, since 1999, when Francis Obikwelu won a 200m Bronze and Glory Alozie won the Silver in the 100 metre hurdles, equalling her African Record of 12.44s (for a third time) which still stands until today! Nigeria must not waste this opportunity to use Blessing’s exploits from these Championships, starting with this Long Jump Silver, as a springboard to propel the nation back to Track & Field reckoning on the global stage. Most importantly, we must learn from the mistakes of the Obikwelu and Alozie era that eventually led to them switching nationalities to represent Portugal and Spain respectively instead of Nigeria. I blogged about Obikwelu’s story after going to meet him in Portugal in May, and we also visited Glory Alozie in Spain last month to get her story for the documentary – it goes without saying that we must learn how to treat our best athletes to make sure that they never have to go elsewhere to realise the full potential of their athletic talents! Any whispers that Blessing could one day be poached by the US should be dispelled and dismissed once and for all. She is needed to spearhead Nigeria’s return to global reckoning!

One athlete that went in the other direction is Regina George, who competed as a junior for the US where she was born, but switched to Nigeria at the first opportunity she had, when she met Nigerian officials while competing for the US at the World Junior Championships a few years ago. Regina, at just 22, is already the current two-time Nigerian 400m Champion, was a semi-finalist at the Olympics last year, and has been consistently lowering her PB since then. She went under 51 seconds at the Nigerian Championships in June with a new PB of 50.99s, and once again lowered it to 50.84s in Moscow today behind the highly impressive Amantle Montsho, but just missed out on a fastest-loser spot in the final again. Setting a new PB at a major championships is all you can really ask of any athlete, so she must be applauded and encouraged to continue her upward trajectory – she is a fantastic athlete who could well be in medal contention by the Rio 2016 Olympics, if she is given the right support starting NOW, to achieve that. Maybe one day she can get close to Falilat Ogunkoya’s 400m African Record of 49.10s set when Ogunkoya won Bronze at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. Though from the way Montsho is running in Moscow at the moment, that record may well be under threat right now – we’ll only have to wait until tomorrow to find out!

Back to Blessing – she goes again in the 100m semis and finals tomorrow, where she’s a good bet for at least another Silver medal. But can she upset the double Olympic Champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, whom many commentators have already handed the race, and win the 100m GOLD? We don’t have long to find out – either way, let the Nigerian Revolution begin!

biolabee:


It determines how long her career Will be...beijingn 15, rio 16

Dude she's 24, that's publicly available information. Even if you want to doubt the veracity of her age (which I think is a somewhat misplaced sentiment right now!), whether she makes it to Beijing '15 or Rio '16 should not really be the question, because regardless of her age, an athlete in the type of form she is will want to stay at the top at least until the next Olympics, especially since she missed out on any medals in London 2012...that is, her desire to win should be enough to take her through this Olympic cycle, hopefully with no injuries cropping up!

Your question really should be about whether she can make it to 2020...and that my friend, is a question one would ask about any athlete regardless of their age - does she have the mental fortitude and desire to stay at the top for two Olympic cycles? Only time will tell, if Blessing is destined to be a "Bolt-esque" legend in women's sprinting, or a one Olympic cylce flash in the pan!

http://makingofchampions.net/2013/08/11/blessing-okagbare-wins-nigerias-first-world-championship-medal-since-1999/

Earlier today, Sunday August 11th 2013, in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Blessing Okagbare came as close as any Nigerian has ever come to becoming a World Champion in Athletics, when she finished 2 centimetres behind the unpredictable, yet ever-present Brittney Reese in the Long Jump – unpredictable because Reese sneaked into today’s final in 12th place of 12 athletes and on countback against her American teammate Funmi Jimoh who also jumped only 6.57m in qualifying on Saturday, but ever-present because the Olympic Champion won an unprecedented 3rd World Championship GOLD medal in a row. Blessing gave it her all with her 6.99m jump, only 1 centimetre behind her personal best, but she was always likely going to have to jump a new PB and go over 7 metres to win the GOLD. As I mentioned in my previous post on Blessing’s chances at the World Championships, my heart said GOLD, but my head said that Brittney Reese would take some beating!

Reese, despite an indifferent season that had somewhat gone downhill since she jumped 7.25m in the Doha leg of the Diamond League in May, produced the goods when it mattered the most with her 7.01m jump in Moscow. In contrast, since Blessing’s wind-assisted 7.14m jump in Doha, she’s been the most consistent jumper throughout the season, winning at the Diamond League in Lausanne and Monaco in new PBs of 6.98m and 7.00m respectively. So Blessing maintained that consistency, but just was not able to produce another PB today – even if she had improved it by 1cm, she would have won on countback (due to her next highest jump of 6.96m being better than Reese’s next highest of 6.95m). Amazing how a centimetre or two can decide championships!

Blessing’s momentous achievement cannot be understated – it is Nigeria’s first World Championship medal of any colour in 7 attempts, since 1999, when Francis Obikwelu won a 200m Bronze and Glory Alozie won the Silver in the 100 metre hurdles, equalling her African Record of 12.44s (for a third time) which still stands until today! Nigeria must not waste this opportunity to use Blessing’s exploits from these Championships, starting with this Long Jump Silver, as a springboard to propel the nation back to Track & Field reckoning on the global stage. Most importantly, we must learn from the mistakes of the Obikwelu and Alozie era that eventually led to them switching nationalities to represent Portugal and Spain respectively instead of Nigeria. I blogged about Obikwelu’s story after going to meet him in Portugal in May, and we also visited Glory Alozie in Spain last month to get her story for the documentary – it goes without saying that we must learn how to treat our best athletes to make sure that they never have to go elsewhere to realise the full potential of their athletic talents! Any whispers that Blessing could one day be poached by the US should be dispelled and dismissed once and for all. She is needed to spearhead Nigeria’s return to global reckoning!

One athlete that went in the other direction is Regina George, who competed as a junior for the US where she was born, but switched to Nigeria at the first opportunity she had, when she met Nigerian officials while competing for the US at the World Junior Championships a few years ago. Regina, at just 22, is already the current two-time Nigerian 400m Champion, was a semi-finalist at the Olympics last year, and has been consistently lowering her PB since then. She went under 51 seconds at the Nigerian Championships in June with a new PB of 50.99s, and once again lowered it to 50.84s in Moscow today behind the highly impressive Amantle Montsho, but just missed out on a fastest-loser spot in the final again. Setting a new PB at a major championships is all you can really ask of any athlete, so she must be applauded and encouraged to continue her upward trajectory – she is a fantastic athlete who could well be in medal contention by the Rio 2016 Olympics, if she is given the right support starting NOW, to achieve that. Maybe one day she can get close to Falilat Ogunkoya’s 400m African Record of 49.10s set when Ogunkoya won Bronze at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. Though from the way Montsho is running in Moscow at the moment, that record may well be under threat right now – we’ll only have to wait until tomorrow to find out!

Back to Blessing – she goes again in the 100m semis and finals tomorrow, where she’s a good bet for at least another Silver medal. But can she upset the double Olympic Champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, whom many commentators have already handed the race, and win the 100m GOLD? We don’t have long to find out – either way, let the Nigerian Revolution begin!

biolabee: Good run by ohuruogu to beat hastings to get to the final

Blessing has what it takes to win gold medalS in long jump

The issue is her age

What issue do you have with her age?

Zelex9: Blessing Okagbare is obviously our best hope for a medal/s. Ato Boldon has stated he see her as a triple medalist in Moscow, which I see as quite possible but by no means confirmed.

Despite what some you guys have stated, I actually think our 100m champion Egwero has a good chance to make the Semi-finals and who knows from there. He has a solid season's best of 10.16 and has shown consistency during his races this season, also ran an impressive 10.18 into a -1.6 headwind at the national trials, which translates roughly at about 10.08.

After Blessing our best medal chances rely in the relays. Our 4x100 women team is probably one of the weaker ones in the last few years, but will as usual will fight for the bronze. The 4x400 teams will do well. I believe will make the final but a medal may be far fetched idea as of now. But who knows......

Yeah I think Blessing will win 3 medals - I think it might be 2 silvers and a GOLD medal, but we just have to wait and see. Not too long now!

As for Egwero, maybe he could make the semis with a new PB, but as you say, a final place might be out of the question, unless he can lower his PB to sub-10! Agreed that the relays are our best chances for medals after Blessing! Let's see how they do!

Hi All,

In preparation for the World Championships starting this Saturday(!), Please see below the links to what is undoubtedbly my favourite Making of Champion's Teaser to date, called "Nigeria? Long Distance!" Shot in Jamaica in March, we find out exactly what the Jamaican fans think about Nigeria's pedigree in Track & Field - you've got to see this to believe it!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdGPwUz7Guw

Blog post, including the background to how we made this video, and what I think about the current gulf in class between Jamaica and Nigeria in Track & Field and whether it can be bridged! http://makingofchampions.net/2013/08/07/nigeria-long-distance/

I hope you're all looking forward to the World Championships, over the week from Aug 10th-18th! Let's get behind Team Nigeria and hope that Blessing can lead the team into a new era for Nigeria Track & Field, where we can start bridging the "long distance" between ourselves and Jamaica!

Enjoy, and please do leave your comments on the blog or the youtube video, and don't forget to share these on facebook, twitter, etc with your friends! It's time for Nigeria to reclaim it's place on the world stage in Athletics!

Hi All,

In preparation for the World Championships starting this Saturday(!), Please see below the links to what is undoubtedbly my favourite Making of Champion's Teaser to date, called "Nigeria? Long Distance!" Shot in Jamaica in March, we find out exactly what the Jamaican fans think about Nigeria's pedigree in Track & Field - you've got to see this to believe it!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdGPwUz7Guw

Blog post, including the background to how we made this video, and what I think about the current gulf in class between Jamaica and Nigeria in Track & Field and whether it can be bridged! http://makingofchampions.net/2013/08/07/nigeria-long-distance/

I hope you're all looking forward to the World Championships, over the week from Aug 10th-18th! Let's get behind Team Nigeria and hope that Blessing can lead the team into a new era for Nigeria Track & Field, where we can start bridging the "long distance" between ourselves and Jamaica!

Enjoy, and please do leave your comments on the blog or the youtube video, and don't forget to share these on facebook, twitter, etc with your friends! It's time for Nigeria to reclaim it's place on the world stage in Athletics!

Hey...there's been some posts on Athletics in the last few days...here's a video I posted last week after Blessing broke the 100m African Record:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCH2vjROrp4

Also see my blog post discussing her chances at the World Championships starting on Saturday: http://makingofchampions.net/2013/08/01/blessings-triple-threat-for-the-world-championships/

Enjoy and pls do leave a comment on the blog or youtube video - thanks!

Hi All,

In preparation for the World Championships starting this Saturday(!), Please see below the links to what is undoubtedbly my favourite Making of Champion's Teaser to date, called "Nigeria? Long Distance!" Shot in Jamaica in March, we find out exactly what the Jamaican fans think about Nigeria's pedigree in Track & Field - you've got to see this to believe it!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdGPwUz7Guw

Blog post, including the background to how we made this video, and what I think about the current gulf in class between Jamaica and Nigeria in Track & Field and whether it can be bridged! http://makingofchampions.net/2013/08/07/nigeria-long-distance/

I hope you're all looking forward to the World Championships, over the week from Aug 10th-18th! Let's get behind Team Nigeria and hope that Blessing can lead the team into a new era for Nigeria Track & Field, where we can start bridging the "long distance" between ourselves and Jamaica!

Enjoy, and please do leave your comments on the blog or the youtube video, and don't forget to share these on facebook, twitter, etc with your friends! It's time for Nigeria to reclaim it's place on the world stage in Athletics!

akintun:

Obikwelu case is actually a reflection of how Nigeria economy is structured. In Nigeria , just like America u are on your own, but d diff btw Nigeria and America is dat in America d private sector takes over d training and feeding of its top athletes while d rest are left on their own. D Europeans are socialist, and their gov foot d bills of their top athletes. In d Uk d athletes are sponsored via d National sport lottery. Okagbare can never leave Nigeria and compete 4 d USA. Infact such a decision at dis stage of her career would virtually ruin her career. She would have to wait 3 yrs b4 she can compete 4 America and d American trials are usually very tough and non forgiving 4 injured athletes. She would also most probably lose her employment with d Delta state gov, and may also lose her first bank sponsorship .

The First Bank sponsorship ended immediately after the Olympics last year...though I do agree with you, she does have much to lose by switching (for now), though I think the wait only used to be one year (not three) - was the rule changed at some point?

ola_pluto:
Are you Enefiok Ubong, the gold medallist from Athens? I saw him in one of your reports in Jamaica. Great guy you are (he is).

Hey! I'm not Enefiok but I did take him with me to Jamaica - we even appeared on National Television there! Here is our interview on the morning show of TV Jamaica from back in March!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpVjAMH96jk

You can also read the full story of how that happened here on the blog! http://makingofchampions.net/2013/04/06/smile-jamaica/

ola_pluto: Very happy to see brilliant athletics bloggers here. It gives me hope for Nigerian athletics. Back to Moscow:
Female athletes are our hope. The brightest this time is Blessing Okagbare. She will be competing in the 100,200m, LJ and relay (4x100m).
100m
On current form, the lowest Blessing can get in the womens 100m is a silver. She has beaten everybody that matters, but in Shelly Ann Frayser-Pryce, she has a fierce competitor, an olympic gold medalist who is also in form. Earlier this season, Blessing's super improvement was apparent when she ran a 22.31s 200m at Mt. Sacs relays. She did that almost effortlessly. Since then, she's been churning out fast times in the 100m and winning the 200m. In the 100m, she's raced against SAFP 4 times this season. She lost 3, and won 1. The time difference steadily reduced from 0.07s to 0.04s then 0.01s before beating SAFP in London. That to me shows an improving lady.
Blessing has improved on her strength while working less on her weakness. She is so powerful between 50 and 100m its unreal. Due to her height, she has been finding it hard to get the best of starts. In London, her start was better in the final, making it possible to have that fast time. Certainly she can get better starts and still maintain her powerful drive. For SAFP, her start is her weapon. She makes like 10 steps before Blessing makes 7. In Moscow, IF Blessing can stay close to SAFP in the first 30m, then she will most likely win the Gold medal.
Another thing that can work against Blessing is fatigue. She is competing in 4 events! That is a big ask. Problem is that she's good in all of them, and has a real medal chance. The timetable in Moscow somehow favours her. She starts on day 1 with the LJ. Day 2 will be busy for her with the LJ final and 100m heats. However, judging from her races this season, she can easily run an 11.10 which will definitely qualify her for the semi-finals of the 100m. She can do this while conserving energy for the LJ final later in the day. Like she said in London, her recovery is key!
Our other representative in the womens 100m is Gloria Asumnu. This season hasnt been too great for her and she will have to work hard to make it to the semi-finals. Gloria is a very good addition to the relay team (which misses Damola Osayomi so much).
Generally, the women's 100m will be a great event to watch. The Americans do have a medal chance in Carmelita Jeter, but I doubt she's fully recovered from her quad injury. The other new faces who ran fast times at the US trials will most likely be hung out dry in Moscow. For me, I see a final line-up of:
Okagbare, SAFP, Kelly Ann-Baptiste, Carmelita Jeter (if injury free), Ivet Lalova, Maurielle Ahoure, Kerron Stewart and English Gardner.

Your analysis is spot on - I think Blessing will get at least 3 silver medals in the 100m, 200m and Long Jump - the main girls standing in her way in each event will be Shelly-Ann, Allyson Felix and Brittany Reese...I'm going to hope that Blessing can get GOLD in all three...but if I was going to tip her to win any of the three, I think it would be the 200m - I'm pretty sure she is going to shatter Mary Onyali's African record of 22.07s....I think she is going to go well below 22 seconds....probably 21.7 or 21.8...you heard it here first!