TheCable

Nigeria’s duo of Blessing Okagbare and Grace Nwokocha, on Friday, booked their spots in the semi-finals of the women’s 100m at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.

Okagbare dipped 11.05 (-0.1) seconds to finish first in heat 6, followed by Asha Phillips of the UK in second at 11.31 seconds while Bahama’s Tynia Gaither came third in 11.34 seconds.

The former Olympic bronze medalist took her feet off the gas in the final 10 meters to retain her freshness leading into the semi-final.

She has been drawn in the first semi-final heat alongside Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica, defending champion, and Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, who has five world championship medals.

Only the top two athletes will qualify automatically for the final.

Okagbare will be competing in her third consecutive Olympics semi-final in her fourth appearance at the games.

On her part, Nwokocha sprinted to a new personal best of 11.00 seconds to finish third and secure a place in the semifinals.

The 2021 national sports festival champion pitched against Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, the fastest female sprinter, in heat 5.

The Jamaican clocked a stunning 10.84 seconds to win the heat, while Ajla Del Ponte of Switzerland finished second with a national record of 10.91 seconds.

Nwokocha has been drawn to run from lane nine in the third semi-final heat against Fraser-Pryce yet again. Others are Daryl Neita of Great Britain, Teahna Daniels of the USA, and Muriel Ahoure of Ivory Coast.

The semi-final heats will commence on Saturday at 11:15 am, with the final later in the day.