Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare disqualified after a false start at the 12th African Games in Morocco

Nigerian female athlete, Blessing Okagbare suffered disqualification after a false start in the women’s 100 metres semi-finals heat 1 at the 12th African Games in Rabat.

She was disqualified for beating the gun at the starting block. It was a huge disappointment for the Nigerian medal hopeful who had earlier in the day won heat 3 of the event’s first round with a time of 11.53 seconds.

Okagbare was already looking forward to Tuesday’s final of the event at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex before the incident. “This is disappointing. I was already looking forward to appearing in the final, but this is disappointing. I know my fans are disappointed and if you know me, you know i don’t just show up. I show up and i am also there. Today didn’t go as planned but, lesson learned and gratitude given to God for my journey so far.Sometimes the blessing is not always about what’s given but what He takes away” she said.

The heat was won by Cote d’Ivoire’s Marie Ta Lou who returned a time of 11.36 secs, with Kenya’s Maxmila Imali finishing second with 11.71 secs.