Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor was unable to maintain her winning run in the Diamond League on Saturday at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, USA, finishing fourth in a strong field that paraded world leaders, including world and Olympic 100m women’s champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica.
Fraser-Pryce bounced back from her fifth-place finish in Shanghai a fortnight ago, in which Okagbare won, to win the Eugene meet in a world leading time and season’s best of 10.81sec, 2,000th of a second faster than Ivory Coast’s Murielle Ahoure, who also finished in same time on the clock. It was Ahoure’s personal best and a national record.
USA’s Tori Bowie was third in 10.82secs ahead of Okagbare, who crossed the line in a season’s best of 10.87secs.
Bowie’s compatriot, Carmelita Jeter was fifth with a season’s best of 11.02secs, while Trinidad & Tobago’s Kelly Baptiste was sixth in 11.08secs.
A disappointed Okagbare admitted her execution in the race was not perfect. She wrote on her Facebook wall, “Keep pushing, keep working and keep the faith strong. Not one of the best executions but she came out with a seasons best.”
In the men’s 100m event, USA’s Tyson Gay breasted the tape with a season’s best of 9.88secs ahead of compatriot, Michael Rodgers, who finished in second place in 9.90sec. China’s Bingtian Su was third with a national record of 9.99secs, same time as Kim Collins of Saint Kitts & Nevis, who finished fourth with a personal best.
Jamaica’s Nesta Carter was fifth in 10.02secs, while Britain’s James Dasaolu was sixth with a season’s best of 10.13secs.
The expected duel between Allyson Felix and Sanya Richards-Ross in the women’s 400m, not a Diamond Race discipline, resulted in a surprisingly comfortable victory for Felix.
After a relatively controlled and conservative first 200 metres, Felix gained control of the race and never relented, finishing in 50.05.
“I feel like the first half of the race could be more aggressive,” said Felix after her first 400m in more than a year.
“I just really wanted to see where I was at and kind of what things I need to work on moving forward.” Agency report
