For the past few days, Blessing Okagbare has been the subject of controversy, especially with news that made the rounds within the media, stating that she had been banned from competing at the 2016 Olympics in Rio by the National Sports Commission (NSC), after pulling out from the ongoing All-Africa Games in Brazzaville.
However, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) strongly refuted the story, revealing that the athlete had not been banned, neither had she been invited to face a disciplinary panel of any sort. Okagbare herself took to social media page, Facebook, to give her own side of the story.
She disclosed that she was dismayed by the news of her purported ban, which had caught her by surprise, while also listing the reasons she decided to compete in the IAAF Diamond League in Zurich few days after pulling out of the 200m and 4x100m at the World Championships in Beijing:
“Blessing and her team are completely shocked by the way such a delicate and important decision which involves her health and her career has been handled”, part of her statement read.
“The contention at hand is that Blessing decided not to go to the ongoing All African Games in Congo Brazzaville to allow her injuries to completely heal, given the demands that taking part in the competitions in Brazzaville would have placed on her body after competing in several rounds of qualifications to get to the finals of any event she would have been entered into.
“With her body still fragile from her injuries that would not be in her best interest to put herself through that, she rightly communicated her concerns with the officials of the AFN. However, with a commitment to the Diamond League, Blessing made an appearance in Zurich to see if she could fulfill her obligations.
“After some treatment on her sore hamstring she felt positive enough to give it a go since it was just a single race. She was able to come through and finish her season on a high note.” The African record holder in the 100m said that she was currently trying to iron out issues with all the bodies involved, while reaffirming her commitment to the country.
