Blessing Okagbare wins 200m race at Prefontaine Classics in the US

Nigeria sprint queen, Blessing Okagbare won the Women’s 200m race at the Prefontaine Classic held in Standford, USA on Sunday.

She ran a season best time of  22.05s to beat the reigning Olympic 100m and 200m gold medalist, Elaine Thompson and double European champion, Dina Asher-Smith (22.21m) and (22.42m) to second and third place respectively.
Okagbare, who has been blighted with injuries over the years was happy to be back in form and hopes to continue being healthy, especially as she is getting older.
She said: “Staying healthy, for someone like me coming off with injuries for the last three years and had issues, getting better to getting back to Blessing Okagbare is a great feeling for me.
“So I am really grateful to God and  I am starting to feel normal again.
“I am getting older but I just want to feel a little normal. My injury is like eighty per cent gone so I am just so happy.”
Okagbare, who recently won her last Diamond League race in Morocco, will compete against the likes  Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Dafne Schippers and Marie-Josee Ta Lou at the 100m event at the Lausanne Diamond League Grand Prix in Switzerland on Friday, July 6.

Compatriot, Divine Oduduru would be making his professional debut at the same event, competing with the likes Noah Lyles, Ramil Guliyev and Andre De Grassi at the men’s 100m.
Oduduru recently joined the professional ranks after his stand-out performances at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Outdoor Championship last month led his former school, Texas Tech to their first national title.

Last weekend, Oduduru emerged as the winner of the Bowerman fan votes after amassing 48.8% of the vote, which is the second highest winning percentage and second largest winning margin in history.
He is now closer to becoming the second African, after Ngonidzashe Makusha from Zimbabwe, to win the prestigious award which celebrates the top collegiate track & field athlete of the year.