Okagbare enters Guinness Book of World Records for most Diamond League appearances

Blessing Okagbare has achieved a Guinness World Record for the most appearances in Diamond League meetings. ENIOLA OYEMOLADE takes a look at the notable achievement of the 32-year-old Nigerian track and field athlete.

Track and field athlete, Blessing Okagbare, has been honoured by the Guinness World Records with a certificate for the most appearances in Diamond League Meetings, making a total of 67 appearances between 3rd of July 2010 and 31 August 2018.

The 32-year-old announced this via her Facebook page. She wrote: “A dream made reality through God’s grace and determination. Look what finally came in the mail…Thanks to the Guinness book of world records. I am indeed honoured, proud and grateful.”

The certificate reads: “The most appearances in Diamond League meetings by an athlete is 67 and was achieved by Blessing Okagbare (Nigeria) between 3 July 2010 and 31 August 2018”. The certificate was branded ‘OFFICIALLY AMAZING.’

Making the headlines is not new to Okagbare. She made history in 2018 when she broke the 200m women African record held by Mary Onyali-Omagbemi since August 1996, Wikipedia reports.

She ran an impressive 22.04 seconds in the 200m race at the Wes Kittley Invitational Track and Field Meet at the Abilene Christian University. Her winning time became the new national record in the women’s 200m.

Recently, Okagbare clinched the 60m title for the second time this season at the American Track League hosted by Paul Doyle, owner of Doyle Sports Management.

Okagbare equalled her previous Personal Best of 7.17s in the heat, lowered it to a scorching 7.10s in the final for the win, which ranks her number two in the world this year.

She also won her 200m heat with another Personal Best time of 23.01s. Her first indoor full lap race in 10 years and she will be confident, taking this form outdoors.

The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has hailed Blessing Okagbare for the award of the Guiness World Record.

The federation noted that Okagbare has over the years, continued to place Nigeria’s name on the map of the world for all the right reasons.

“The board of the AFN is delighted with the formal presentation of the Guinness World Record certificate for most appearances (67) to our own Blessing Okagbare. She is one of our biggest ambassadors in the sport and has won several medals for Nigeria since 2007 when she won a silver medal in the long jump (6.46m) event at the African Games in Algiers.

“She has scored a number of firsts for Nigeria and Africa on both the track and the pits. For the records, Blessing is the first Nigerian woman to hit the 14m mark in the women’s triple jump (14.13m), the first (and only one so far) to run a sub-10.9 and sub-10.8 seconds in the 100m and the only Nigerian athlete, man or woman to win two individual medals at World Athletics’ flagship event, the World Championship courtesy of her silver in the long jump and bronze in the 200m at the Moscow World Championships in 2013.”

Born in Sapele, Delta State, her teachers and family had encouraged her to take up sports because of her athletic physique. Initially, she played football as a teenager at her high school but in 2004, she began to take an interest in track and field. She participated in a number of disciplines early on, competing in the long jump, triple jump and high jump events at the Nigerian school championships and winning a medal in each. On the senior national stage, she was a triple jump bronze medallist at the 2004 Nigerian National Sports Festival. Okagbare’s first international outing came at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics, where she performed in the qualifying rounds of both the long and triple jump competitions

In May 2007, at the All-Africa Games trials in Lagos, she established a Nigerian record of 14.13 metres in the triple jump. At the 2007 All-Africa Games, she won the silver medal in the long jump and finished fourth in the triple jump.

As a 19-year-old, she won a bronze medal in the women’s long jump event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She was selected to compete at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics but did not start either the 100m or long jump.

Okagbare scored a 100m/long jump double at the NCAA Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship for University of Texas at El Paso, completing an undefeated collegiate streak for the UTEP Miners that year. She won the Nigerian 100 m title in 2010, running a time of 11.04 seconds, and stated that she was opting out of the long jump in order to save herself for the upcoming African championships.

At the African Championships in 2010, she won gold in the long jump again with a distance of 6.62m while her compatriot Comfort Onyali took silver. Okagbare also won gold in the 100m distance with a run of 11.03s flat. She won her third gold at the end of the championship as part of the Nigerian 4×100m women’s relay team. The team of Okagbare, Osayomi, Lawretta Ozoh and Agnes Osazuwa set a new championship record with a run of 43.43s, more than a full second ahead of the silver-winning Cameroonian quartet.

In 2011, Okagbare continued to build on her earlier endeavours by establishing herself as a 100m runner. At the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, Okagbare placed fifth in the 100m final with a run of 11.12s. She concluded her 2011 season by winning three medals at the All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique. She won silver in the 100m behind compatriot Oludamola Osayomi with a run of 11.01s and gold in the long jump with a jump of 6.50m. She was part of the Nigerian quartet that won gold in the 4 × 100m with a time of 43.34.

2012 was a busy year for Okagbare. She jumped 6.97m in the long jump in Calabar during the Nigerian championship. She won new continental medals at the 2012 African Championships in Porto-Novo. In the 100m she was beaten to silver by Zang Milama, while in the long jump she claimed gold with a jump of 6.96m.

2013 would prove to be a breakthrough year for Okagbare. In April 2013, in Walnut, California, Blessing Okagbare set a personal record in the 200m with a time of 22.31s. Then, in July, she improved her personal best in the long jump with successive jumps of 6.98m at the Athletissima meet in Lausanne, and 7.00m during the Monaco Herculis meet. On 27 July 2013, at the London Anniversary Games, Okagbare set a new African record of 10.86 s in her 100 m race. She won the final about an hour later, setting a new African record of 10.79, in a race where she beat reigning 100m Olympic gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Okagbare’s record eclipsed the existing record by compatriot Glory Alozie of 10.90s which had stood since 1998.

At the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, Okagbare won the silver medal in the long jump. Her jump of 6.99m put her in second place behind Brittney Reese of the United States by only two centimetres. In the 100 m final, she placed sixth with a run of 11.04 s and also placed third in the 200 m race.

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Okagbare participated in both the 100m and 200m races. She made it through to the finals of the 100m and won with a time of 10.85, breaking the games record of 10.91 seconds set by Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie 12 years earlier at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

Okagbare also won the gold medal in the 200, with a time of 22.25 seconds. In doing so, she became the fourth woman to win the 100m and 200m double at the Commonwealth Games.

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