Stephen Soetan, a renowned hurdles and vertical jumps coach, on Tuesday said Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor still remained the nation’s prime medal prospect at the forthcoming Olympic Games.
Soetan told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that his forecast was based on the fact that the Team Nigeria was yet to record major strides in recent times.
He said: “We are still at the same level we were before the 2012 Olympics, if not worse.
“Okagbare is still the only medal prospect, judging by last season’s performances by Nigerian athletes.
“If she competes in her specialty which is the 100m and long jump, we are hopeful.
“In addition to Okagabare, Ese Brume was picked by the coach as one of the athletes that could excel at the Olympics.”
The coach said that Steven Mozia, a shot putter, and Oluwatobiloba Amusan, whose specialty is hurdles, could be relied on as medal hopefuls if they remained consistent with their performances.
He said: “Mozia, the shot putter, will need a consistent 22m+ throws to prove that he is a real medal contender in Rio.
“Interestingly, my favourite event which is the hurdles can deliver better than the 400m and 200m when Tobi Amusan is pushed by other Nigerian hurdlers.”
NAN reports that Mozia threw 21.11m to set a new national record at the Commodore invitational held in Nashville Tennessee in January, this year.
The African record of 21.97m is held by South Africa’s Janus Roberts since 2001, while the world record is 23.12m, held by Randy Barnes of the USA since 1990.
Amusan broke the U-20 African record by setting a time of 12.83sec at the UTEP Invitational on April 30 in the US.
NAN.
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