Okagbare arrives London for IAAF Championship

Nigeria’s Sprinter, Blessing Okagbare has arrived London ahead of the 2017 IAAF World  Athletics   World  Championships.

Okagbare who  will be competing at her fourth  World Championship arrived in the English capital on Tuesday to step up her preparations for the  competition, which  begins  at the Olympic Stadium  in London  on Friday.

The six-time national  100m champion, who won silver  in long jump and bronze in  200m  in her second appearance at the worlds in Moscow in 2013, will compete  in the 100m and long jump events in London.

But   the British High Commission has yet to grant  entry visas to the athletes who are scheduled to leave Nigeria for London for the championships.

The  AFN Secretary-General Amaechi Akawo    said he had yet to receive any positive response from the high commission  before the  close of work on Tuesday.

However, the  athletics chief believes the  visas  would be  granted the athletes   before  the beginning  of the   competition.

He said, “I am regularly in communication with the IAAF and I believe the embassy will realise  that  the athletes and officials whose passports are before it are representing the most populous black nation on earth and a strong member of the commonwealth.”

Akawo,  who  confirmed Okagbare’s arrival  in London,  also  said the new   AFN  president  Ibrahim Gusau arrived     in the   capital  city  on Monday  ahead  of the 51st IAAF Congress.

Meanwhile, former national triple jump champion Tosin Oke has been cleared to compete at the athletics showpiece. The London-born  was not initially listed  for  the  competition.

Spokesman for the AFN   Dare Esan said the IAAF informed the national athletics  body about  the  development on Tuesday.

Oke, who holds a personal season’s best of 16.70m, qualified for the worlds  following his victory at the African Championships  last year in Durban,   South Africa. The jumper  will be  will be making his third competitive trip to the championships after making his debut in 2009  in Berlin.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )