Okagbare sets new meet record in Slovakia

Nigeria’s queen of the tracks, Blessing Okagbare, continued her splendid build-up to the Tokyo Olympics as she ran an impressive 10.98 secs to win the 100m women’s event at the P-T-S Meeting in Samorin, in the Slovak Republic.

Okagbare’s winning time was a Meet Record as no other woman has ever run under 11 seconds in the Meet held in the Eastern European country.

A delighted Okagbare after her historic feat said she was not only excited to win but also honoured to be the first woman ever to run under 11 seconds at Wednesday’s Meet.

“I’m excited and honoured,” says #Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare after becoming the first woman to ever run under 10 seconds at the P-T-S Meeting in Šamorín, the Slovak Republic today.#Athletics #AthleticsAfrica #ContinentalTourSilver #blessingokagbare #PTSMiting @mountain214 pic.twitter.com/iW49dImEFt

— AthleticsAfrica (@athleticsafrica) June 2, 2021

“Thank God for another healthy race/win today,” the Nigerian 100 and 200m record holder wrote on her Facebook page.

Before going below 11 seconds again on Wednesday, Okagbare ran her first sub-11 seconds of the season at the USTAF invitational in Eugene, Oregon in April before scorching to a 10.90 seconds season’s best at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha, Qatar last week.

This is the 21st time that Okagbare has run under 11 seconds in her career; a feat no Nigerian athlete is anywhere close to replicating and a testimony to the consistency of the University of Texas, El Paso alumni.

She broke the 11 seconds barrier for the first time in her career at the Crystal Palace Aviva London Grand Prix in London on July 14, 2012, when she ran 10.99 secs.