Day 2 of the 16th edition of the IAAF World Championships taking place in London saw four Nigerian athletes compete in Track and Field events at the London Olympic Stadium.
Nigeria’s medal hopeful and Moscow 2013 Double medallist, Blessing Okagbare made it through to the semifinals of the women’s 100m after finishing 2nd in her race.
Running in Heat 3 alongside Rio 2016 Olympic Silver medalist Tori Bowie, the six-time Nigerian champion had a poor start, but counted on experience as she crossed the line in a time of 11.22s as Bowie won in a time of 11.05s.
The women’s 100m semis and final come up on Sunday, August 6.
It was a debut to forget for the trio of Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, Samson Nathaniel and Edose Ibadin who were making their first appearance at the IAAF flagship event.
Enekwechi was the first to take to the field as he was drawn in Group B of the men’s Shot Put event. The 24 year old Nigerian threw a mark of 19.27m and 19.70m respectively in his first two attempts.
However, his final attempt was just 0.02m better than his 2nd attempt, which wasn’t enough for him to make it through to the final as he finished 10th in his group and 25th on the overall standings.
In the men’s 400m, Nigerian Champion Samson Nathaniel did not progress to the semifinals after finishing 5th with a time of 46.63s in Heat 6, which was won by Jamaica’s Nathon Allen in 44.91s.
Meanwhile, Ibadin became the second Nigerian after Leoman Momoh (Moscow 2013) to compete in the men’s 800m at the World Championships. Ibadin, who holds a personal Season’s Best (SB) of 1:45.87, did not make it past the opening rounds as he finished 6th in Heat 1 in 1:46.51.
