Meet Nigeria’s Fastest Woman In Okagbare’s Absence

US-based sprinter Gloria Asumnu, has emerged as Nigeria’s fastest woman after running 11.42secs at the All Nigeria Open Championship in Warri, Delta state.

Stephanie Kalu ran under 11.47secs to win the silver medal while Deborah Adeyemi took the bronze with a race of 11.66secs.

 

Gloria Asumnu may have cemented her place as one of Africa’s fastest sprint queens with her performance

All of these came in the absence of Commonwealth Games double medalist, Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor, who was exempted from the championship, which will serve as trials for selection of Nigerian athletes to the 2015 1AAF Athletics World Championship in Beijing, China and the 11th All Africa Games to be hosted by Congo, Brazzaville in September.
Ogho-Oghene Egwero, Obinna Metu, Jonathan Mmaju are the top contenders for the men’s 100m final which comes up later today.
Meanwhile, a new national record was recorded in the women’s 20,000m walk race by Faustina Ogwe and the spokesman of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Olukayode Thomas, told This Day at the Warri Township Stadium that Okagbare and former African champion, Chinwe Okoro, were exempted from the ongoing 69th All Nigeria Athletics Championships.
“Okagbare’s medical and sports science team in a letter to the board through the medical committee headed by Professor Ken Anugweje,  pleaded with federation to exempt her from, so as to be enable her to treat a knee injury and an abdominal problem,” he said.

The championship, billed to end this evening was initially to be hosted in Calabar by the Cross River state government, but they pulled out because of lack of funds.