The stuff champions are made of come to bear by how well they bounce back after a fall, and the world will be watching to see how Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor returns to reckoning when the women’s 200m gets underway on Wednesday at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.
The African Record holder came to Beijing as the world No. 3 with a time of 10.80s in the women’s 100m, and was regarded as one of the few athletes that could dethrone Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce as World Champion. She however suffered a disappointing finish in the final where she placed 8th in 11.02s, reminiscent of what happened at the London 2012 Olympics where she also placed 8th with 11.01s, after running two sub-11 times in the rounds.
Two years ago at the last World Championships she finished 6th in the final in 11.04s, though it is widely believed that winning the Long Jump Silver the day before must have hurt her chances of winning a medal in the 100m. She also went on to win Bronze in the 200m behind Fraser-Pryce and Murielle Ahouré at the time, and her fans will be hoping for a repeat performance at the Bird’s Nest Stadium this time around.
The odds may be stacked against the Commonwealth double champion who is No. 27 in the 2015 rankings with 22.67s, but one cannot and should not count her out just yet. If she was able to recover from the 100m disappointment last time around to claim 200m Bronze, she will be desperately hoping that she can match that or even do better this time. That said, she hasn’t concentrated much on the 200m this year, only competing in two half lap races; first in New York where she clocked her Season’s Best (SB), finishing 2nd behind Tori Bowie who won with 22.23s, while in Monaco, she was disqualified for a lane violation.
Incidentally, the race was won by USA’s Candyce McGrone with a scorching 22.08s, with Dafne Schippers following in 22.09s, and their performances took them on Nos. 2 and 3 respectively in the world this year. The pair will be in action in the 200m and come with very impressive CVs, especially against the backdrop of Schippers winning the Silver in the women’s 100m.
Some pundits even feel that the Dutch athlete is better in the 200m, and will be touted as a favourite ahead of the final. Another hurdle that Okagbare-Ighoteguonor has to surmount comes in the person of Jamaican national champion, Elaine Thompson who is No. 4 in 2015 in 22.10s. The 23-year old made the mark while storming to a Meeting Record (MR) of 22.10s in London, and will pose one of the greatest threats to the title.
Other contenders are USA champion, Jenna Prandini (No. 7, 22.20s) and Jeneba Tarmoh (No. 8, 22.23s). The absence of some key athletes will definitely work in the Beijing 2008 medallist’s favour. Fraser-Pryce will not be defending her title, while World No. 8, Tori Bowie who took the Bronze in the 100m in Beijing, wasn’t listed for the event.
World Leader Allyson Felix opted out of the 200m in order to concentrate on the 400m, and Shaunae Miller (World No.5, 22.14s) of the Bahamas seems to have taken the same decision, focusing instead on the 400m. Moscow 2013 Silver medallist, Ahoure (No. 12, 22.29s) isn’t also listed for the event, leaving compatriot, Marie-Josée Ta Lou as Cote d’Ivoire’s sole representative.
Okagbare-Ighoteguonor has been drawn in Lane 4 of Heat 3, and is expected to sail through without much difficulty. She will go against Tarmoh, Maria Belimpasaki (23.12s), Kimberly Hyacinthe (22.86s), Gloria Hooper (23.08s), Kelly Proper (23.24s) and Isidora Jimenezchi (22.95s). The real battle begins from the semis, but hopefully, the champion in her will emerge just in time to redeem her image in Beijing.
