Blessing Okagbare and Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha are both making Nigerians proud in the ongoing Olympic games in Tokyo.
Naija News understands that the two athletes made it to the semifinals of the women 100m race. This development makes it the first time since 2012, Nigeria will be having two of its athletes contesting in the semifinals of the 100m women race.
Naija News had reported earlier that 10 Nigerian athletes were suspended from the Olympic Games over drug test.
However, amid the brutal setback, 20-year-old Nwokocha was able to set a new personal best record of 11.00 seconds to qualify for the semifinals of the event.
In this regard, the young athlete now occupies the 5th position among all Nigerian women who had participated in the 100m race in one event or the other. Toping the Nigerian women all-time list is Blessing OKagbare with (10.79), Glory Alozie (10.90) Mary Onyali (10.97) and Damola Osayomi (10.99). Nwokocha will be running from lane nine in the third semifinal heat alongside the world adjudged fastest woman alive, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, Daryl Neita of Great Britain, Teahna Daniels of the USA and her fellow African, Muriel Ahoure from Ivory Coast.
Unlike Nwokocha who just made her debut at the event, 32 years old Okagbare made her first appearance at the event in the 2012 London Olympics and she is now running in her third Olympic games.
Naija News reports that Okagbare will be running in the first semifinal heat alongside two heavyweights of the event, defending champion Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica who ran 10.82 seconds in the first round heat, and Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, who ruled the 200m world championship two years ago in Doha, Qatar.
The 100m women contest is scheduled to take place at exactly 11.15 am Nigerian time on Saturday
This article was originally published on Nigeria News