Diamond League: Okagbare Battles Elaine Thompson, Marie-Josee Ta Lou in Switszerland

Prestige Otaben Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare will return to the Diamond League on Thursday at the Prefontaine Classics in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she will battle Jamaican Elaine Thompson and Ivory Coast duo Murielle Ahoure and Marie-Josee Ta Lou in the women’s 100m. Okagbare, who has had a not-too-fantastic season in the Diamond League this season, will be seeking to find her way to get a ticket to the final of the 14-leg annual competition. Okagbare finished fifth in her last race in the women’s 100m at the Stockholm leg of the IAAF Diamond League in Stockholm, Sweden. She clocked 11.29secs behind Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, who won in 10.93secs, Ahoure, who was second in 11.03secs, Trinidad and Tobago’s Michelle Lee-Ahye, who was third in 11.11secs, and Germany’s Gina Luckenkemper, who was fourth in 11.23secs. Also, at the IAAF World Challenge in Hengelo, Holland, the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games double gold medallist ran 23.03secs in the 200m to place fifth — she had earlier ran 22.04secs to break the African record in the event earlier in the season. Okagbare is expected to bounce back when she returns to the tracks against Thompson, Ahoure, Ta Lou and Dutch sensation, Dafne Schippers, who have been having a good season so far. The Africa 200m record holder is expected to travel down to Nigeria after the race in time to compete in the All Nigeria Championships from July 7 to 9 in Abuja.