Okagbare Finishes 2014 as World’s Best Sprinter

Blessing Okagbare capped off a tremendous year as she emerged World’s best sprinter in 2014 according to an online review of  the world top 10 sprinters in 2014. Okagbare was picked ahead of US sprinter and five-time Olympic medalist, Justin Gatlin; Kaliese Spencer, Dafne Schippers and Kirani James. Okagbare, who won the Long Jump Bronze Medal at 2008 Beijing Olympics, is the current Nigerian and Commonwealth 100m & 200m Champion, and African 100m Champion. She became the most prolific athlete of the IAAF Diamond League since its inception in 2010, making her 38th appearance in the series. She appeared in nine Diamond Leagues this season, winning four. She recorded her best performance in Shanghai where she won a double with meet records in the Long Jump (6.86m) and 200m. She ran also a PB of 22.23s in the 200m to come 2nd behind surprise winner Tori Bowie in Eugene. Her scintillating form earned her a second place finish in the IAAF World rankings in the 100m this year, and fifth in the 200m. Okagbare’s best performance this year was recorded at  the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where she emerged as the outstanding athlete of the Games. She won both the 100m and 200m in Games Record time of 10.85s and 22.25s respectively. She was also part of the women’s 4x100m relay team that finished second in 42.92s. At continental stage, she zoomed past everyone to regain her 100m crown with another championship record time of 11.00s staged at the African Championships in Morocco. She also captained the women’s 4x100m relay team to a fifth back-to-back title in 43.65s. Locally, she emerged the first athlete in Nigeria’s Track and Field history to win a sixth consecutive title in the 100m in a CR of 11.06s, before going on to make it a sprint double in the 200m in 22.62s at the Nigerian Championships in Calabar.

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This article was first published on 26th December 2014

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