Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare produced two meet records on her way to victory in the women’s Long Jump and 200 metres at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai, China on Sunday.
Okagbare needed only three attempts to claiming the title of women’s long jump with a winning mark of 6.86 meters from her first jump, beating the former meet record of 6.73m set by Janay Deloach Soukup of the United States in 2012.
The reigning African champion and world silver medalist, took the Long Jump with a leap of 6.86m (+0.1) in round 1 ahead of national record-breaking Ivana Spanovic of Serbia (6.85m, +0.3) to move second on the 2014 world list.
Germany’s Moscow world finalist, Sosthene Moguenara with a leap of 6.79 (+0.6), finished third while Sweden’s Erica Jarder equalled her personal best of 6.66m to take fourth.
Moments later, in the 200 metres race, the Nigerian who skipped her last three jump attempts to rest, made it two from two in Shanghai with another meet record of 22.36 seconds just five hundredths outside her personal best. The 25-year-old was in blistering form.
Two-time world junior champion, Bahamas Anthonique Strachan, finished second in 22.50, seconds ahead of Kimberlyn Duncan of the United States (22.96) in third while the former World and Olympic champion, Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown was fifth in 23.08.
