By Uzor Odigbo
Blessing Okagbare failed to show up for the 100m race at the Stade de la Pontaise Thursday evening as the IAAF Diamond League train makes its eight stop in Laussane,Switzerland.
Okagbare-Ighoteguonor was listed to run from lane two at the event but when the athletes lined up for the race, DNS (Did Not Start) was marked against her name.
It could not be immediately ascertained why the Nigerian was absent from an event she was confirmed to take part in and this would be the second time she would either fail to appear or could not finish a 100m race in Laussane.
The first time was four years ago (2014) when she failed to finish the blue ribband race.
Meanwhile, two-time African long jump champion Ese Brume leapt 6.66m to place fourth at the IAAF Diamond League meeting.
It was Brume’s first appearance in the money-spinning event and for her effort she earned a cheque for $3,000 and five points to move to sixth on the diamond league ranking after two events.
Germany’s Malaika Mihambo who won the event in Lausanne (6.90m) has moved to the top spot with 15 points with Serbia’s Spanovic Ivana, second (6.90m), with 12 points and Lorraine Ugen of Great Britain, third, with 10 points after finishing fifth (6.62m) in Laussane.
Brume began the event in third place after her opening round leap of 6.49m was bettered only by Spanovic’s 6.90m and Shara Proctor’s 6.56m jumps.
She dropped to fifth in the second round with her 6.47m effort as World’s undisputed triple jump queen,Colombia’s Catherine Ibarguen improved to 6.64m from her opening round jump of 6.40m to move second while Australia’s Stratton Brooke also improved from 6.38m in the opening round to 6.58m to place third.
Brume remained in fifth position after the third round but added 17cm in the fourth round to improve to 6.66m which moved her ahead of second placed Ibarguen (6.64m), third placed Brooke and fourth placed Proctor who dropped to third and fifth respectively while Proctor remained in fourth with an improved 6.52m jump.
The 2016 Olympics finalist however dropped to fourth in the fifth round when Germany’s Mihambo leapt to second place with her 6.70m effort and Ibarguen added 13cm to land at 6.76m to move to third.
Mihambo reserved her best for the last round as she leapt 6.90m to win the event on count back ahead of Spanovic who had led from the beginning in the event
