Nigeria’s medal hopeful Blessing Okagbare put in an excellent display in the women’s 100m. She won her first round heat and semi-finals in a time of 11.28 seconds and 10.48 seconds respectively before finishing first in the finals to record Nigeria’s first gold medal at the Games. In the final, the 25-year-old exorcised her 2012 London Olympics demons where she finished last, running a time of 10.58 seconds to finish ahead of her rivals, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Kerron Stewart of Jamaica. Other Nigerian representatives, Justinah Sule and Gloria Asumnu couldn’t match Okagbare’s performance. Sule lost out in the first round after finishing 6th in her heat in a time of 12.00 seconds whilst Asunmnu did enough to qualify for the final but could only manage 11.41 seconds to finish last.
Nigeria’s representatives in the men’s 100m sprint race, Mark Jelks, Mozavous Edwards and Ogho-Oghene Egwero all produced an impressive display in the round 1 heat to qualify for the semi-finals on Sunday. Jelks won his heat ahead of Warren Fraser of Bahamas with a time of 10.28 seconds, whilst Edwards and Ewero were placed second in heat 6 and heat 8 with a time of 10.48 seconds and 10.38 seconds respectively. However, things went from sweet to sour in the semi-finals on Monday, Edwards and Ewero could only finish 7th and 8th with a time of 10.30 seconds and 10.40 seconds in their respective semi-finals. Jelks continued his fine display and finished the semi-final with a time of 10.13 seconds, which was enough for him to qualify for the final behind Adam Gemili (England) and Jason Livermore (Jamaica). In the final, Jelks was no match for Jamaican Kemar Bailey-Cole, who won the gold medal in 10.00 seconds. Jelks finished fourth in 10.17 seconds further behind Adam Gemili of England and Nickel Ashmeade of England who finished the race in 10.12 seconds and 10.16 seconds respectively.
In 400m, Nigeria’s Salihu Isah ran 47.51 seconds to finish 4th in Men’s round 1 heat 2; Robert Simmons and Noah Akwu were disqualified in heat 3 and 4 respectively. Folashade Abugan qualified for the next round of Women’s 400m after finishing her round 1 heat in second place with a time of 52.84 seconds. Omolara Omotosho and Regina George also managed a second place finish in their respective heats in a time of 53.02 seconds and 53.92 seconds respectively. However, the trio couldn’t qualify for the finals after bowing out in the semi-finals. Omotosho and Abugan finished third and fourth in their semi-final heats in 52.34 seconds and 51.71 seconds respectively whilst George finished her semi-final in sixth position in 53.48 seconds.
In shot-put, Nigeria’s sole representative, Stephen Mozia threw a distance of 17.76m to finish seventh in the qualifying round hence there being no Nigerian in the final. In Boxing, most of Nigeria’s representatives couldn’t get past the preliminary stages. Oluwatoyin Oladeji lost to England’s Nicola Adams in Boxing Women’s Fly 48-51kg category round of 32, whilst Wasiu Taiwo lost to Andrew Moloney of Australia in the Men’s fly 52kg round 16.
Sikiru Ojo also lost his Bantam men 56kg round of 16 match to Kenya’s Benson Gicharu Njangiru whilst Oto Joseph lost to Michael Joseph of Trinidad and Tobago in the men’s lightweight 60kg round of 32. The trend continued when Waheed Shogbamu lost to Welsh man Zack Davies in men’s light welterweight 64kg round of 16, Kehinde Ademuwyiwa lost to Australian Daniel Lewis in men’s welter 69kg round of 16 and Lukmon Lawal lost to Elly Ajowi Ochola in the men’s light heavy 81kg category.
In another twist, Efe Ajaba will take on South Africa’s Paul Schafer today in the men’s heavy weight +91kg category after defeating Tonga’s Uaine Fa. Kehinde Obareh will face India’s Laishram Devi today in women’s light 57-60kg category. Edith Ogoke awaits her opponent in the quarter-finals of women’s middle 69-75kg after her opponent in the round of 16 withdrew. She will now face the winner between Lesotho’s Keabetsoe Mothibeli and Sri Lankan Shiromali Weerarathna tomorrow. Efetobor Apochi will also face Australia’s Jai Opetaia in quarterfinals of men’s heavy weight 91kg category tomorrow after ousting Krystan Borucki of Isle of Man in the round of 16.
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This article was first published on 29th July 2014
arinzeude
Arinze Ude is a PhD Student at the University of the West of England Bristol, UK, where he's exploring on the mechanisms of donor cell leukaemia. He shares his deep thoughts on his blog and the Naked Convos. He is keen to promote personal development of the Nigerian youth via thought-provoking articles.
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Nigeria’s medal hopeful Blessing Okagbare put in an excellent display in the women’s 100m. She won her first round heat and semi-finals in a time of 11.28 seconds and 10.48 seconds respectively before finishing first in the finals to record Nigeria’s first gold medal at the Games. In the final, the 25-year-old exorcised her 2012 London Olympics demons where she finished last, running a time of 10.58 seconds to finish ahead of her rivals, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Kerron Stewart of Jamaica. Other Nigerian representatives, Justinah Sule and Gloria Asumnu couldn’t match Okagbare’s performance. Sule lost out in the first round after finishing 6th in her heat in a time of 12.00 seconds whilst Asunmnu did enough to qualify for the final but could only manage 11.41 seconds to finish last.
Nigeria’s representatives in the men’s 100m sprint race, Mark Jelks, Mozavous Edwards and Ogho-Oghene Egwero all produced an impressive display in the round 1 heat to qualify for the semi-finals on Sunday. Jelks won his heat ahead of Warren Fraser of Bahamas with a time of 10.28 seconds, whilst Edwards and Ewero were placed second in heat 6 and heat 8 with a time of 10.48 seconds and 10.38 seconds respectively. However, things went from sweet to sour in the semi-finals on Monday, Edwards and Ewero could only finish 7th and 8th with a time of 10.30 seconds and 10.40 seconds in their respective semi-finals. Jelks continued his fine display and finished the semi-final with a time of 10.13 seconds, which was enough for him to qualify for the final behind Adam Gemili (England) and Jason Livermore (Jamaica). In the final, Jelks was no match for Jamaican Kemar Bailey-Cole, who won the gold medal in 10.00 seconds. Jelks finished fourth in 10.17 seconds further behind Adam Gemili of England and Nickel Ashmeade of England who finished the race in 10.12 seconds and 10.16 seconds respectively.
In 400m, Nigeria’s Salihu Isah ran 47.51 seconds to finish 4th in Men’s round 1 heat 2; Robert Simmons and Noah Akwu were disqualified in heat 3 and 4 respectively. Folashade Abugan qualified for the next round of Women’s 400m after finishing her round 1 heat in second place with a time of 52.84 seconds. Omolara Omotosho and Regina George also managed a second place finish in their respective heats in a time of 53.02 seconds and 53.92 seconds respectively. However, the trio couldn’t qualify for the finals after bowing out in the semi-finals. Omotosho and Abugan finished third and fourth in their semi-final heats in 52.34 seconds and 51.71 seconds respectively whilst George finished her semi-final in sixth position in 53.48 seconds.
In shot-put, Nigeria’s sole representative, Stephen Mozia threw a distance of 17.76m to finish seventh in the qualifying round hence there being no Nigerian in the final. In Boxing, most of Nigeria’s representatives couldn’t get past the preliminary stages. Oluwatoyin Oladeji lost to England’s Nicola Adams in Boxing Women’s Fly 48-51kg category round of 32, whilst Wasiu Taiwo lost to Andrew Moloney of Australia in the Men’s fly 52kg round 16.
Sikiru Ojo also lost his Bantam men 56kg round of 16 match to Kenya’s Benson Gicharu Njangiru whilst Oto Joseph lost to Michael Joseph of Trinidad and Tobago in the men’s lightweight 60kg round of 32. The trend continued when Waheed Shogbamu lost to Welsh man Zack Davies in men’s light welterweight 64kg round of 16, Kehinde Ademuwyiwa lost to Australian Daniel Lewis in men’s welter 69kg round of 16 and Lukmon Lawal lost to Elly Ajowi Ochola in the men’s light heavy 81kg category.
In another twist, Efe Ajaba will take on South Africa’s Paul Schafer today in the men’s heavy weight +91kg category after defeating Tonga’s Uaine Fa. Kehinde Obareh will face India’s Laishram Devi today in women’s light 57-60kg category. Edith Ogoke awaits her opponent in the quarter-finals of women’s middle 69-75kg after her opponent in the round of 16 withdrew. She will now face the winner between Lesotho’s Keabetsoe Mothibeli and Sri Lankan Shiromali Weerarathna tomorrow. Efetobor Apochi will also face Australia’s Jai Opetaia in quarterfinals of men’s heavy weight 91kg category tomorrow after ousting Krystan Borucki of Isle of Man in the round of 16.
