.Nigeria’s Shot Put king listed for Rome’s Golden Gala Pietro Mennea
Reigning
Nigeria’s Shot Put king,Chukwuebuka Enekwechi is set to make his debut
in the money-spinning IAAF Diamond League when the train makes its
fourth of 14 stops at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea in Rome,Italy on
Thursday.
Chuwuebuka is currently ranked the fifth best in the world
this year following his 21.77m national record-setting effort in April
at the 2019 IAAF World Challenge and IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge at the
Estádio do Centro Nacional de Desenvolvimento do Atletismo in Bragança
Paulista, São Paulo.
The 26 year old is following in the
footsteps of sprint hurdler,Tobi Amusan who also made her IAAF Diamond
League debut in Rome last year.
Chukwuebuka is thus the fourth
Nigerian to compete at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea since the IAAF
Diamond League made its bow in 2010.
Sprinter,Gloria Asunmu who
competed twice (11.31,2011 and 11.30 2012) in the 100m and Tosin Oke
(16.36m,2013) who competed in the triple jump are the other two who have
competed in Rome since 2010.
Reigning African 200m record
holder,Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor missed out yet again for the 10th
consecutive year as she was not listed in the star-studded 100m race
expected to be one of the major highligts pf Thursday’s event.
In
Rome,Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith will confront 2016 Olympic double sprint
champion,Elaine Thompson,2017 IAAF World Championship double sprint
silver medallist,Cote D’Ivoire’s Ta Lou Marie-Josée and 2013 USA Outdoor
Track and Field
Championships 100mwinner,English Gardener who is one of the 10 fastest women ever over the 100m.
Okagbare-Ighotegunor has never competed at the Stadio Olympico in Rome,the venue where another Nigerian,quartermiler,Charity
Opara raced to a 49.29 seconds world lead on July 14,1998.
Chukwuebuka will be hoping to become the first Nigerian man to break
the 22m barrier and announce himself as a contender for a podium place
in September/October at the IAAF flagship event,the World Championship
in Doha,Qatar.
This will be Chukwuebuka third competition in the
Shot Put this outdoor season after he opened his summer campaign on
April 13,putting 21.15m at the Illini Twilight Meet in Champaign-Urbana
at the midwestern state of Illinois,USA.
He then moved to Sao Paulo in Brazil two weeks later to heave that massive 21.77m to shatter the three year old 21.76m record
held by Stephen Mozia