Nigeria’s hope for a successful outing at the 13th edition of the IAAF World Championship which gets underway today in Deagu, South Korea, after a disappointing performance two years ago in Berlin, Germany rest on Africa’s queen of track, Blessing Okagbare. The Nigerian seasonal sprinter last weekend, at the inaugural Istvan Gyulai Memorial in Budapest, won the women’s Long Jump with a wind-assisted 6.84 metres (+2.9) leap and also came third in the 200m race clocking a season’s best of 22.94 seconds behind Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown, who won in 22.26 seconds and American Sanya Richards-Ross who came second in 22.63 seconds in warm-up game to Deagu showpiece.
?
Okagbare topped the list of 17 Nigerian ambassadors to the biannual championship and with her onslaught in a warm-up to the championship, hopes are high that the West African nation will better their performance in Berlin two years ago where they returned home empty handed with nothing to show for their appearance at the event.
?
Blessing Okagbare will be competing for Nigeria in the 100m 4x100m and Long Jump events alongside former US sprinter, Gloria Asunmu, who debuted for Nigeria during the national trials in Calabre while Damola Osayomi will be on track for just the 100m and 4x100m events.
Nigeria medal hopeful will also be in for the 100m and 4x100m hurdle, where African 100m hurdles champion, Seun Adigun, University of Texas in El Paso (UTEP) track sensation, Endurance Abinuwa will go for honours.
?
Other Nigeria representatives at the tournament are Agnes Osazuwa, 4x100m; Bukola Abogunloko, 4x400m; Margaret Etim, 4x400m; Ajoke Odumosu, 400m hurdles and 4x400m; Blessing Mayungbe, 4x400m; Chizoba Okodogbe, 4x400m; Omolara Omotosho, Shot Put; Doreen Amata, High Jump; Ogho Oghene Egwero, 100m; Peter Emelieze, 100m; Stanley Gbagbeke, Long Jump and Africa and Commonwealth Games triple jump champion, Tosin Oke.
Over 2,000 competitors from more than 200 countries will take part in almost 50 different events over the course of the championships. Amongst them is the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt and South African Caster Semenya, who hope to defend their titles.
?
Reigning world champions, Jessica Ennis and Phillips Idowu will be hoping to repeat their 2009 successes in the heptathlon and triple jump. And Mo Farah, who picked up two European titles last summer, will be going for gold in both the 5,000m and 10,000m races.
Olympic champion, Christine Ohuruogu, will compete in the 400m, while sprinters, Dwain Chambers, Marlon Devonish and Christian Malcolm will all be hoping to give Usain ‘Lightning’ Bolt a serious run for his money in the 100m and 200m finals. Other British medal hopefuls include silver medallist, 1500m runner, Lisa Dobriskey; 800m runner Jenny Meadows – who picked up bronze last time – and current European and Commonwealth 400m hurdles champion Dai Greene.
?
Meanwhile the host city, Deagu has already made IAAF World Championships an Economic value benefits with the slogan, “Sprint Together for Tomorrow” as it.
According to the Daegu Gyeongbuk Development Institute, the event itself is expected to bring in about 5.2 billion US dollars, in production and the added value of about 2.2 billion dollars, as well as creating some 63-thousand jobs. In terms of expenses, a total investment of roughly 2.1 billion dollars was put in to renovate Daegu Stadium.
Song Ji-sun, Arirang News reported that the investment was relatively modest compared to other major sporting events as the Worlds will make use of stadium which was built for the 2002 Korea-Japan FIFA World Cup.
And at least 30 thousand international visitors are expected to come to the southern Korean city and spend around 21 million dollars.
The country’s traditional textile capital has also enjoyed some extra income such as producing some 5-thousand uniforms for the championships. And with billions of people expected to watch and the worldwide recognition the city of Daegu is expected to receive, advertising revenue from this event alone is set to top 5 billion dollars.