Blessing Okagbare, a former long jump and sprint specialist from Nigeria, was given an extra one-year penalty for additional doping offenses, on top of her previously existing 10-year punishment.
The Athletics Integrity Unit charged her with “evading sample collection and tampering or attempted tampering with the doping control process.” The initial suspension for Okagbare was issued in February due to her “repeated infractions of anti-doping procedures.” She failed a drug test, and the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021 saw her suspended. Due to Okagbare’s additional suspension, Nigeria no longer has a chance to qualify for the women’s 4x100m relay at the World Championships in Oregon in July.
What is the identity of Blessing Okagbare? Okagbare was born in Sapele, Delta, and is a 34-year-old Nigerian of Urhobo descent. Due to her athletic body, her teachers and family encouraged her to join in sports.
- She played football for the first time in high school before becoming interested in track and field in 2004.
– At the All-Africa Games trials in Lagos in May 2007, she established a Nigerian record in the triple jump with a leap of 14.13 meters. Chinonye Ohadugha then defeated it.
When she was barely 19 years old, she won a silver medal in the women’s long jump event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
She also owns the Commonwealth Games record for the fastest women’s 100-meter time with a time of 10.85 seconds. She held the 100-meter African record until Murielle Ahouré beat it in 2016. Her time record was 10.79.
On June 17, 2021, Okagbare finished a 10.63 100 m with the aid of the wind.
-The second-fastest female athlete from Africa in the 200 meters is Christine Mboma, who set the record in 2021 with a time of 21.78 seconds. She set the African mark for the 200 meters in 2018 with a time of 22.04 seconds.
-She won the 100-meter and long-jump championships for Africa in 2010. She also has medals from the World Relays, the All-Africa Games, and the IAAF Continental Cup.
Visit ShethePeople.TV/SheStars/Who-Is-Blessing-Okagbare to learn more.
- On July 31, 2021, Okagbare passed a drug test while competing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and was subsequently suspended. For repeated violations of the World Athletics Anti-Doping rules, which were discovered on February 18, 2022, she was sentenced to a 10-year athletics ban beginning on July 30, 2021. Okagbare’s athletic career was ultimately ended in disappointment after being given a ten-year ban during a hearing at the Athletics Integrity Unit.
- In addition to not cooperating with the investigation, it was found that she had taken EPO and human growth hormone over a prolonged period of time.
Visit ShethePeople.TV/SheStars/Who-Is-Blessing-Okagbare to learn more.
