With a first-ever sub-22-seconds performance by an African woman in the event, Namibian Christine Mboma has broken the 22.04 seconds 200m African record Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare set in Abilene, Texas, the USA in March 2018
The 18-year-old came second in the second semifinal heat of the 200m event by running a blistering 21.97 seconds race at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan to secure the second automatic ticket for the final on Tuesday where she will run with fellow Namibian Beatrice Masilingi and veteran Ivorian, Marie-Jose ta Lou both Africans,
Okagbere would have competed in the 200m at the games but was suspended on Saturday by the Athletic Integrity Unit after testing positive for a human growth hormone.
She had broken fellow countrywoman, Mary Onyali’s 22.07 seconds record set 25 years ago at the Weltklasse meeting in Zurich, Switzerland.
The 32-year-old came close to equalling her own record in 2019 but stopped just one-hundredth of a second outside the 22.04 seconds she ran a year earlier.
After her 10.79 seconds performance in the 100m in July 2013, Okagbare had hoped to be the first African woman to break the 22 seconds barrier.
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