Okon-George banishes ghost of disqualification, qualifies for 400m semis

Veteran quartermiler Patience Okon-George overcame the disappointment of getting disqualified for a lane infringement four years ago to qualify for her first 400m semifinal at the Commonwealth Games.

The Nigerian, 30, ran 52.63 seconds to finish fourth in the first round heat but her time was good enough to get her into the semifinal of the event as one of the non-automatic qualifiers.

Okon-George was disqualified four years ago in the first round heat of the event at the Gold Coast, Australia for a lane infringement but was part of the 4x400m relay team that finished second in the final.

While Okon-George managed to squeeze into the semifinal, the duo of Patience Knowledge Omovoh (54.40) and Ella Onojuvwevwo (54.02) both finished fifth in heat two and four respectively to end their campaign in the event.

In the men’s version, the trio of Samson Nathaniel (46.31), Dubem Amene (46.77) and Sikiru Adeyemi (46.83) are through to the semifinals.

Nathaniel and Amene both came second in their respective first round heats while Adeyemi finished third, only managing to qualify as one of the non-automatic qualifiers.