Okagbare disappoints, wrestlers crash out

 Blessing Okagbare failed in her quest to win a medal in the women’s 200m event at the Rio 2016 Olympics on Wednesday as she crashed out in the semifinals of the event.

Another Nigeria, Antwon Hicks, lost in the semifinal of the  men’s 110m hurdles.

Jamaica’s Omar McLead won gold in the event.

Okagbare finished fifth in her heat with a time of 22.69secs behind Holland’s  Dafne Schippers, who took the heat in 21.96secs. Women’s 100m champion Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson was second in 22.13secs while USA’s Deejah Stevens was third in 22.38secs and Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith finished fourth in 22.49secs.

Okagbare will seek to  help Nigeria win a medal in the women’s 4x100m relay race, where the country will compete in the Heat 2 along with USA, Trinidad and Tobago, Germany, France, Kazakhstan, Brazil, and Switzerland.  The 4×100 relays begin on Thursday.

The Nigerian women have a season best of 44.24m against the 42.61secs of the USA and 42.84secs of France.

On the overall standings in the women’s 200m after the semifinals, Okagbare stood 13th with the first eight women qualifying for the final.

The national  champion had failed to reach the women’s 100m final when she finished third in her semifinal heat. She also pulled out of the women’s long jump event to focus on the 200m but it failed to give her the desired result.

Hicks, who is the national  record-holder in the men’s 110m hurdles, stumbled on the fifth barrier to finish seventh in 14.26secs in heat three of the semifinals.

Meanwhile, three Nigeria’s  wrestlers   Mercy Genesis, Aminat Adeniyi and Hannah  Reuben crashed out in their   women freestyle events on Wednesday.

Seven wrestlers are   representing the country  in Rio.

Genesis lost 4-0 to Poland’s Matowska Iwona in the women’s 48kg while Adeniyi was beaten 8-2 in the women’s 58kg by Finland’s Olli Petra Maarit and Reuben, who competed in the women’s 69kg freestyle, was beaten 11-1 by Canada’s Dorothy Yeats.

 Odunayo Adekuoroye and Blessing Oborududu will take to the mats on Thursday in the women’s 53kg and 63kg. The two men – Amas Daniel and Soso Tamara – will compete in the men’s freestyle 65kg and 97kg on Sunday.

.Copyright PUNCH.