World Athletics Championships: Nwokocha battles Olympic champion Thompson-Herah for 100m quarterfinal ticket

Tokyo Olympics 100m semifinalist and reigning Nigeria queen of the track, Grace Nwokocha has been drawn to run in the same heat with reigning Olympic champion, Elaine Thompson-Herah.

The duo will go head-to-head in heat three of the first round of the women’s 100m event which starts on Saturday at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, USA as the 18th World Athletics Championships enter day two.

Nwokocha will be seeking to finish in the top three in the event to secure automatic qualification for the semifinals.

The Nigerian, with her 10.97 seconds personal best she achieved this year prior to the championships is the second fastest in the line up behind Thompson-Herah who holds a personal season’s best of 10.89 seconds.

The Jamaican is also expected to go through to the next round of the event.

Meanwhile the two other Nigerians who made the standard to compete in the event, Favour Ofili and Rosemary Chukwuma are not registered for the race.

Ofili has opted to concentrate on the 200m despite holding a 10.93 seconds best in the blue ribband event.

The 19 year old feels she has a better chance of making the podium in the 200m event where she is one of only seven women who have broken 22 seconds so far this year.

Ofili’s 21.96 seconds personal best is a Nigerian record and the second fastest by an African in the event.

Chukwuma on the other hand could not make it on time to Oregon for the event due to visa hitches and only left for the USA on Friday night. She was subsquently withdrawn from the event.