Chris Maduewesi
Member
President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria(AFN) Solomon Ogba has praised the exploits of Blessing Okagbare,adding that the country does not have up to four of her types,at the moment.
Okagbare was the only Nigerian athlete that won medals at the World Athletics Championship in Moscow,in fact she alone won the two medals that Nigeria could account for at the championship.
Ogba said that if not for the politics in Athletics,that Okagbare would have ended up winning three medals at the championship.
“The IAAF technical team tipped Okagbare for three medals – in the 100m, 200m and the long jump – but the politics of the game robbed her of the medal in the 100m,” Ogba told The Punch.
“The ideal schedule at competitions is to have the 100m and 200m in the first three days of the world championships, and then the long jump events hold about three days to the end of the competition.”
“But the Russians wanted to win the long jump hence they played the politics and brought long jump in between the 100m timetable. Eventually, the Russian lady, who had been jumping seven metres this year, did not win the event. If the politics had affected an American athlete, they wouldn’t have allowed the Russians to have their way. But we don’t have anybody in the IAAF council to fight for us so we take whatever is dished out to us,” Ogba complained.
Ogba however said that Nigerai cannot have as many as Okagbare’s type in this era: “We cannot have four Okagbares at a time, athletes like that come once in an era. I don’t think it’s fair when people compare her with the likes of Mary Onyali and Gloria Alozie. In two years, Okagbare has run under 11 seconds about nine times. All other athletes she has been compared with were never this consistent. Onyali ran under 11 seconds once and Alozie ran under 11 seconds once in her entire career. No other person has run under 11 seconds since then. If we have four athletes running 10 seconds at a time, we’ll compete well with the USA team. But we’re doing things to have athletes who can support her by running 10 seconds and complement her.”
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Okagbare was the only Nigerian athlete that won medals at the World Athletics Championship in Moscow,in fact she alone won the two medals that Nigeria could account for at the championship.
Ogba said that if not for the politics in Athletics,that Okagbare would have ended up winning three medals at the championship.
“The IAAF technical team tipped Okagbare for three medals – in the 100m, 200m and the long jump – but the politics of the game robbed her of the medal in the 100m,” Ogba told The Punch.
“The ideal schedule at competitions is to have the 100m and 200m in the first three days of the world championships, and then the long jump events hold about three days to the end of the competition.”
“But the Russians wanted to win the long jump hence they played the politics and brought long jump in between the 100m timetable. Eventually, the Russian lady, who had been jumping seven metres this year, did not win the event. If the politics had affected an American athlete, they wouldn’t have allowed the Russians to have their way. But we don’t have anybody in the IAAF council to fight for us so we take whatever is dished out to us,” Ogba complained.
Ogba however said that Nigerai cannot have as many as Okagbare’s type in this era: “We cannot have four Okagbares at a time, athletes like that come once in an era. I don’t think it’s fair when people compare her with the likes of Mary Onyali and Gloria Alozie. In two years, Okagbare has run under 11 seconds about nine times. All other athletes she has been compared with were never this consistent. Onyali ran under 11 seconds once and Alozie ran under 11 seconds once in her entire career. No other person has run under 11 seconds since then. If we have four athletes running 10 seconds at a time, we’ll compete well with the USA team. But we’re doing things to have athletes who can support her by running 10 seconds and complement her.”
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