Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare will be seeking another piece of history as the first Nigerian nay African woman to break 22 seconds when she lines up for the 200m event on Friday at the Stade Louis 11 Stadium in Monaco for the ninth leg of the money-spinning IAAF Diamond League meeting.
The Nigerian has competed in the half lap race thrice this season, starting with an uninspiring 23.14 seconds run at the opening leg of the Diamond League meetings in Doha last May and improved to 22.58 seconds 18 days later at the 2019 Nanjing World Challenge in Nanjing, China.
Okagbare blew away the field late last month at Stanford in California where she ran 22.05 seconds to win the Pre-Fontaine Classics ahead of 2016 double Olympic sprints champion, Elaine Thompson of Jamaica and British wonder, Dina Asher-Smith.
The time is Okagbare’s second fastest after the 22.04 seconds she ran in Abilene,Texas, USA last year March to set a new African record in the event.
On Friday, the elegant and beautifully built Okagbare will seek to become the first African woman and 29th in the world to break the barrier.
She will be bouyed by her incredible run in Stanford on June 30 and will be pushed by the quality field assembled for the race in Monaco.