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Okagbare targets world record
Written by Duncan Tuesday, 03 August 2010
ShareAfrica’s fastest woman Blessing Okagbare said on
Monday she would aim to set a new record in the women‘s 100 metres event
at future events.
The current women‘s world record of
10.49 seconds was set by America‘s Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988 in
Indiana, United States of America.
Okagbare set a new
African record of 11.03 seconds in the women‘s 100 metres to win gold at
the 17th African Athletics Championships in Nairobi on Thursday. Her
effort bettered Mary Onyali-Omagbemi‘s record of 11.06 seconds at the
Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada in 1994.
After
winning three gold medals – two in individual events and one in the
4x400 metres relay – Okagbare said she could have done better.
She said, ”There was never a time I lost confidence in myself in Kenya. I was determined to do my best and get gold.
”I
could have done better at the competition. I went there to do my best
but I am not complaining about the result I got. I believe that was what
God wanted for me. I hope to have a better performance at the
Commonwealth Games. Setting a world record is not impossible.”
Okagbare
admitted the season had been tough with every athlete improving on
their times to make winning a medal a bigger challenge. She added that
her injury problems had been taken care of.
The USA-based
athlete said, ”My leg is okay. It was a minor injury. I just needed a
little rest to recover from the stress. I had a long competitive season
and it was telling on my performance.”
Okagbare became the
eight Nigerian woman to win the 100m title at the championships. Her
victory also made it the 11th time in 16 appearances that Nigeria would
appear at the podium as the champions.
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