The wait for a medal is still on and after Day 8 of the IAAF World Championships, Team Nigeria’s chances are becoming slimmer by the day.
Blessing Okagbare who remains the only Nigerian athlete to have qualified for the final of an event at the ongoing championships, finished 8th in the women’s Long Jump on Friday.
Okagbare, who won a Silver medal in the event four years ago, came up against familiar foes like Brittney Reese, Tianna Bartoletta and Ivana Spanovic. Of her six attempts in the final, her farthest jump landed at 6.55m.
Reese reclaimed her world title from her rival Bartoletta as she won GOLD, leaping to a distance of 7.02m, while Bartoletta settled for the Bronze medal. Darya Klishina who competed as an Authorized Neutral Athlete (ANA), took Silver.
Meanwhile, the duo of Tobiloba Amusan and Lindsay Lindley were unable to advance to the final of the women’s 100m Hurdles.
Amusan came to the World Championships as one of Nigeria’s brightest prospects of getting a medal after setting a new Personal Best (PB) of 12.57s to win the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) title.
Running earlier in the day during the heats, Amusan made it into the semifinals after finishing 3rd in a time of 12.97s. It was however a different scenario in the semis where she placed 4th in 13.04s. Christina Manning of the USA and Alina Talay of Belarus were the two athletes to make it into the final from Amusan’s heat.
The same fate befell her teammate Lindsay Lindley. Lindley had made it into the semis by a hair’s breath, qualifying as one of the fastest losers from Heat 3 where she placed 5th with 13.07s.
The 2015 African Games Bronze medallist who possesses a lifetime best of 12.90s, needed to go below that time to ensure her passage into the final. She however finished in 7th place, clocking a time of 13.18s.
Nigeria will now turn her hopes to the women’s 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams for medal hopes at the championships.
