5) Praise Idamadudu vs Ngozi Onwumere & Gloria Asumnu
One needed to have been at the Warri Township Stadium during the 2015 National trials to really appreciate what rivalry is on the horizon in this category.
Roars and jeers after Praise Idamadudu crossed the line to win the women’s 200m still reverberate even up till now. Yes, because not many gave her a chance against the foreign contingent.
Idamadudu won the title in 23.48s closely followed by Ngozi Onwumere in 23.54s and astonishingly, Gloria Asumnu 3rd in 23.75s. That all but set the stage for a triumvirate clash in the women’s 200m.
“When I got to the turn, another girl, the winner was in my lane” Onwumere said.
“The race altogether was a bit messy,” she added. “I crossed because she was in my lane! I had no choice other than to get to three (another lane). So she moved to four, I was in three, but congratulations to her (Idamadudu) it was a good race from her.”
An elated Idamadudu was happy to have surprised even herself to win the title: “I never expected to win the 200m, because all of them there are my seniors. I never expected that the 200m will be mine” she told us.
Onwumere went on to claim Silver at the African Games in Brazzaville, running 23.24s to finish behind Marie Josee Ta Lou who won GOLD in 22.56s. She bettered her time from the National Championships, and will even get better this year.
Idamadudu might have done enough to upset the applecart and beat the foreign based athletes, but the challenge will get tougher this year and she will have to work hard and prove it was no fluke.
For Asumnu, her disappointment showed in her emotions after the race. No doubt she will be baying for revenge, but who says Idamadudu and Onwumere will be resting on their oars?
The women’s 200m is expected to move a notch higher this year. Two 2015 4x200m GOLD medallists at the World Relays: Dominique Duncan and Christy Udoh are not to be overlooked. They have won medals and would want to continue doing so, and they won’t be there just to make up the numbers at the National Championships this year.
Blessing Okagbare is in a league of her own, and if she decides to compete in the 200m at Rio Olympics, that means others will now have to slug it out for the remaining two slots.
