Thursday, July 31, 2014 10:33 pm
Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare claimed a women’s sprint double at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow Thursday.
The Nigerian 100 metres champion kept her bid for a Commonwealth treble on course as she added the 200m crown to her 100m title, the US-based 25-year-old still to run in the 4x100m relay.
She timed 22.25sec for gold, beating unrelated English duo Jodie Williams (22.50) and Bianca Williams (22.58) to top the podium.
The British duo both posted personal best times of 22.50 and 22.58 respectively while another English woman, Anyika Onuora of Nigerian descent finished fourth with a personal best of 22.64.
Another Nigerian, Dominique Duncan had made the semi- final from the heats but crashed out after finishing sixth with a time of 23.88 seconds.
Meanwhile in the men’s 200m, Nigerian duo Obinna Metu and Seye Ogunlewe failed to make it past the heats, both finishing fourth in times of 21.19 and 21.11 respectively.
Jamaica’s Rasheed Dwyer won the 200m gold with a time of 20.14 ahead of Warren Weir and Jason Livermore who completed a cleansweep of medals for Jamaica in the event.
Olympic champion and world record holder David Rudisha was beaten by Nijel Amos in the Commonwealth Games 800m final on Thursday while
Rasheed Dwyer led a Jamaican clean sweep of the men’s 200m to emulate teammate Kemar Bailey-Cole’s victory in the 100m, the two sprint golds going some way to make up for the absence of Usain Bolt, who will only compete in the 4x100m relay.
Kenya’s Rudisha, who set a blistering world record when winning Olympic gold in London, had finished ahead of silver medallist Amos in the British capital in 2012.
But there was revenge in the wet Glasgow air, Amos producing a sublime, fast-paced finish to outdo his Kenyan nemesis, clocking 1min 45.18, with Rudisha at 0.30sec. South African Andre Olivier took bronze in 1:46.03.
“The race was good but the last 100m was difficult. I didn’t have good preparations,” Rudisha said in reference to a calf injury that only saw him make his track comeback in May.
Botswana’a Amos was quick to heap praise on Rudisha, saying: “This gentleman will always be the hero of the 800m.”
In the men’s 200m, Dwyer outshone world silver medallist Warren Weir, the only sprinter in Glasgow to have clocked a sub-20sec 200m, timing 20.14sec for victory ahead of Weir (20.26) and Jason Livermore (20.32).
South African Cornel Fredericks won the men’s 400m hurdles while Jamaica’s Kaliese Spencer claimed the women’s event.
Vikas Shive Gowda won the discus with 63.64m to end India’s 56-year gold medal drought in men’s athletics at the Games, the last winner being Milkha Singh over 440 yards at the 1958 edition in Cardiff.
Australia’s Olympic champion Sally Pearson showed no fall-out from the suspension of head coach Eric Hollingsworth for his outspoken criticism of the star hurdler for missing a pre-Games team training camp.
Pearson scorched into Friday’s final of the 100m hurdles with a time of 12.69sec, tellingly punching the air as she came through the line.
Alex Dowsett, second to David Millar four years ago in the men’s road cycling time trial, claimed Commonwealth gold for England in a closely-contested race through the streets and suburbs of Glasgow.
He timed 47 minutes 41.78 with Australian rider Rohan Dennis crossing the line nine seconds slower to take silver and Geraint Thomas grabbing third to claim the bronze for Wales.
Millar, in his final season, was eighth.
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