1. BLESSING OKAGBARE
This was a dicey pick for us, but the fact that Okagbare poses one of the biggest threats to her contemporaries, gave her the No.1 spot, seeing that she can never be written off as far as getting a podium placement is concerned.
Okagbare has had a somewhat quiet season thus far, being strategic in her choice of meets in 2016. The Commonwealth Champion opened her 2016 season in the 100m in Kawasaki, Japan, with a time of 11.30s.
Few weeks later, she put up a good show at the Rabat Diamond League to finish 2nd behind Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson who raced to a Meeting Record (MR) of 11.02s, while Okagbare clocked 11.11s.
At the National Trials in Sapele, Okagbare proved why she’s still the best female sprinter in the country, reclaiming her title from 2014 by powering to a new SB of 11.02s, making it the seventh time she’s been Nigerian Champion over the distance.
Okagbare posted an SB of 22.58s in the 200m at the Sollentuna Grand Prix in Stockholm, Sweden. In the Long jump, she has an SB of 6.73m set at the Eugene Diamond League.
If the double World Championships medallist decides to compete at all three events in Rio, it will be a tough call as she’ll have to better her PBs of 10.79s, 22.23s and 7.00m in order to have any chance at a medal.
One thing is sure: when the former African record holder lines up on the track or gets set to jump, she’ll have the African Record (AR) of any of her events in sight, which may just be enough to raise the country’s flag during any of the events’ medal presentation.
