• Godbless, Ochonogor goal Okagbare’s feat 15 years afterAbout three months after surviving a “horrifying” automobile crash in the USA, Nigeria’s lengthy jumper and Olympics bronze medallist, Ese Brume, is progressively returning to her ft.
In December final 12 months, Brume, who gained for Nigeria a protracted bounce bronze medal on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a leap of 6.97 metres, survived the crash, however the automobile she was travelling in along with her good friend, a Briton, was broken past restore.
Whereas Brume had a sprained ankle and strained neck damage from the accident, her British good friend strained her shoulder, had a mind concussion, and sustained some cuts.
In a phone chat with The Guardian, yesterday, Brume mentioned she had began “mild work,” including that she would start coaching as quickly as medical doctors certify her match.
“I’ve began mild work-out right here, however I’m but to start full coaching. I’ll achieve this as quickly as my physician certifies me match,” the soft-speaking Brume acknowledged.
In the meantime, two U.S.-based Nigerian athletes, Tima Godbless and Prestina Ochonogor, will likely be trying to turn out to be the primary Nigerian sprinter and the primary lengthy jumper respectively to mount the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships’ podium as champions, 15 years after Blessing Okagbare efficiently made a 60m and lengthy bounce double.
In keeping with SportsNow.com.ng, there will likely be no repeat of the double this time round on the Virginia Seashore Sports activities Centre in Virginia the place the Championships will likely be held this weekend.
Godbless, the quickest girl within the NCAA this 12 months with the 7.08 lifetime finest that she ran final month will likely be trying to repeat what Okagbare did in 2010 on the Randal Tyson Observe Centre in Fayetteville, Arkansas the place she ran 7.18 seconds to win the gold medal for her college, College of Texas in El Paso (UTEP) Texas.
Godbless appears to be fulfilling expectations now after serving discover of a star within the making on the World U-20 Championships in 2022, the place she stormed to a then 11.09 lifetime finest within the 100m.
She is aware of it is a once-in-a-lifetime likelihood to make historical past and turn out to be the second Nigerian girl to win the title.
On her half, 18-year-old Ochonogor, who leapt to worldwide reckoning final 12 months when she made the ultimate of the lengthy bounce occasion on the Paris 2024 Olympics, is aware of that she will bounce to gold on her first try and turn out to be the second girl after Okagbare to win the ladies’s title within the occasion.
Okagbare, who’s now serving a ban, leapt a distance of 6.87m to win the gold, her second on the Championships that 12 months.
Ochonogor has been named as one of many freshmen to observe on the Championships and the World U-20 finalist could make an announcement leap forward of the outside season and September’s twentieth World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
