Sports

Okagbare’s second fastest woman in history

Published

5 years ago

June 17, 2021

Blessing Okagbare says she is ready to roll in Tokyo at the Olympics. And Nigerians believe her on the strength of her historic race at the Athletics Federation of Nigeria Olympic Trials at the Sports Complex of Yaba College of Technology in Lagos.

The 32 year old scorched to a 10.63 seconds finish to tie Jamaican, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce time as 2021 world lead. Okagbare says the race has given her renewed confidence of a memorable performance at the delayed 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Four years ago she didn’t make it to the final of the 100m. She has not ran in any final of the sprint events since 2015 when she raced to an 11.02 seconds finish to place eigth at the World Athletics Championship in Beijing, China.

Many local watchers of the sport erroneously thought Old Father Time had booked an appointment with the 2014 double Commonwealth Games champion, that her time was up.

Like a true Nigerian, Okagbare never let down her guard as she kept and still keeps working hard to erase that wrong perceptions, She rose from the disappointment of missing the track, her second home in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic to make a statement at the indoor season, setting two personal bests in the 60m (7.10) and 200m (23.01). That was 11 years after she last competed indoors.

Outdoors she continued from where she left off indoors, first scorching to a 53.21 personal best in the 400m. On the strength of that performance, many athletics watchers believe the long legged sprinter would become the first African woman to run a sub-22 seconds in the 200m.

No one paid any attention to the 100m until the Sapele-born sprinter raced to a 10.90 seconds personal season’s best at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha, Qatar in May.

Okagbare showed a glimpse of what to come at the semifinal of the event at the AFN Tokyo Olympic trials when she effortlessly ran 10.99 seconds to set a new championship record. But not many expected she would run faster than the 10.79 seconds Nigerian record she ran in London in 2013. Like a bolt out of the blues Okagbare uncharacteristically stormed out of the blocks in first place and was never headed as she stopped the clock at 10.62 seconds before it was rounded up to 10.63 seconds.

History has been made in front of a supportive Youth and Sports Development Minister, Mr Sunday Dare and the new president of the AFN, Tonobock Okowa who were watching the events live at the venue. Okagbare has made further history not only as the first woman to run a sub 11 seconds at the National championship but also the first to break 10.70 seconds. Her scorching 10.63 seconds performance is also a new African record. Only Florence Griffith Joyner who holds the world record at 10.49 seconds has run faster.

The Nigerian has now emerged one of the favourites for the 100m gold at the Tokyo Olympics alongside Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce who first ran 10.63 seconds this season at the JOA/JAAA Olympic Destiny Series 3 meet at the National stadium in Kingston, Jamaica and Sha Carri Richardson, the 2019 NCAA 100m queen who has achieved 10.72 seconds this season.

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Sports

Plateau Vipers, Benue Queens Crowned Champions at HFN North Central Division One Tourney

Published

7 hours ago

October 3, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The President of the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN), Jibril Seidu, has said the federation will continue to intensify its grassroots talent development drive through zonal competitions across the country.

Seidu stated this on Saturday in Abuja at the finals of the 2026 North Central Division One Handball Championship, where Plateau Vipers defeated Suleja Shooters 29-24 to emerge champions in the men’s category.

In the women’s final, Benue Queens of Makurdi defeated City Queens of Suleja to claim the title.

The eight-day tournament featured teams from across the North Central Zone, with Plateau Vipers of Jos, Confluence Stars of Lokoja, Unity Boys of Abuja, Suleja Shooters and Nasarawa Ambassadors of Lafia competing in the men’s category.

In the women’s category, Nuela Handball Academy of Ilorin, Inikpi Babes of Idah, Benue Queens of Makurdi and City Queens of Suleja competed for honours.

At the end of the competition, four teams — two male and two female — emerged as the North Central Zone’s representatives for the national Division One league.

According to Seidu, the tournament was organised as part of the federation’s deliberate strategy to take handball development back to the regions and discover talents that might otherwise remain unnoticed.

He said the HFN board, inaugurated on October 25, 2025, resolved that grassroots development was essential to creating a sustainable pipeline of players for national and international competitions.

“All the teams you have seen here are from the North Central Zone of the country, and every state is represented with an academy or state team,” he said.

Seidu explained that the new approach marked a departure from the previous system, where talent identification was largely centred on the federation’s major league competitions.

He said taking competitions to the regions would provide young players with greater opportunities to showcase their abilities while strengthening the foundation of handball across the country.

The HFN president also linked the grassroots initiative to Nigeria’s recent achievements in international handball, stressing the need to develop younger players who can eventually replace members of the current national teams.

He noted that Nigeria had qualified for the 2027 Men’s Junior Handball World Championship in North Macedonia, describing the achievement as evidence of the potential within the country’s handball system.

“How do we replace these players with upcoming players? This is the avenue for us to get players,” he said.

Seidu added that the federation was determined to make handball more visible and accessible, describing it as one of Nigeria’s major sporting disciplines with significant potential for growth.

The North Central tournament is part of a wider zonal programme designed to decentralise handball development across Nigeria.

According to the federation, similar competitions are being organised across other zones, including the South East, North East, North West and South South, with qualifiers from each zone expected to converge at a designated venue for the next stage of the competition.

The federation also appealed for greater support from sponsors, stakeholders and state associations to sustain its grassroots development programme.

It expressed appreciation to the participating states, academies, team sponsors and other stakeholders for their support and commitment to the growth of handball in Nigeria.

The federation said the initiative would provide a platform for discovering the next generation of Nigerian handball stars while expanding the sport’s reach beyond its traditional centres.
While Speaking the elated coach of Benue Queen Godwin Tondo has promised a stronger and more tactical performance after guiding the team to victory at the 2026 North Central Division One Handball Championship in Abuja.
He attributed the success to the team’s long-term youth development programme, noting that the squad was built through a deliberate process of identifying and nurturing young talents.
According to him, the programme began with the selection of 92 girls from secondary schools, who were subsequently trained and developed over a four-year period.

He said the team’s success was a product of sustained hard work and commitment despite the challenges encountered during preparations for the tournament.

“I feel very pleased being a champion today. The road to this stage was very, very hard, but I am very happy that we have got the result from all the toughness of the game,” he said.

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