Okagbare wins 100m in Shanghai

Firstclass newsline special~Okagbare, who won the long jump and 200m
events in Shanghai last year, arrived at a time of 10.98 seconds ahead
a star-studded line-up that included Olympic champion, Shelly Ann
Fraser-Pryce, and other Jamaicans and Americans.
USA's Tori Bowie came second after finishing with a personal best of
11.07 secs, Michelle-Lee Ahye of Trinidad and Tobago, who clocked
11.13 secs,was third, while Veronica Campbell-Brown was fourth with
11.22 secs and Fraser-Pryce finished fifth in 11.25secs.
Sunday's result was an improvement for Okagbare this season after she
finished second in a time of 11.05 secs at the Jamaica International
Invitational last week.
With the end of the Shanghai meet on Sunday, the Diamond League series
will resume on May 30 in Eugene, USA.
"My race was pretty good," Okagbare said after the event. "It is not
easy to compete with the best of the world – but I won. I focused on
my start. Normally I don't have the best start, but now I was leading
from the beginning."
Fraser-Pryce was not overly concerned with her 11.25 opener.
"It was one of those races," she said. "I have time to get it right."
Asked if she would now have her work cut out in defending her title in
Beijing later in the year, Fraser-Pryce said, "I always have my work
cut out. No one hands anything to you."
Triple jumper, Tosin Oke, has commended the organisers of the Doha
Diamond League. Oke, who went out in the first round at the Doha meet,
attributed his performance to rustiness.
He tweeted on Sunday, "The @dldoha was truly world class from the
organisation, medical staff through to the competition and
performances. It was great to be a part.
"I did my best ever opener in round 1, but did not get to show my
worth that day due to being rusty. I am looking forward to the next
one."
In Port Harcourt, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria will take a
major step in its plan to develop young talents and also provide a
good training environment for star athletes who are based in the
country as it commissions a High Performance Centre at the University
of Port Harcourt on May 25.
The centre which is equipped with standard facilities also has quality
accommodation for athletes. The President of the Confederation of
Africa Athletics Hamad Kalkaba Malboum and the AFN president Solomon
Ogba are expected to declare the centre open.
Firstclassnewsline.net