Will Okagbare rule the world in Moscow?

After weeks of anticipation, the IAAF World Championships finally gets underway today in Moscow with athletes from across the globe battling for honours in the Russian capital.

Nigeria, expectedly, is taking part at the global event and will hopefully look to secure a couple of podium finishes before the Championship draws to a close on August 18.

And it’s all thanks to one remarkable athlete – a certain Blessing Okagbare.

Not since the 1987 World Championships in Rome has a Nigerian athlete gone into the global event as an overwhelming medal favourite. But unlike was the case when Innocent Egbunike went to the Italian capital 16 years ago only to return home with a silver medal in the men’s 400m event, after placing second in the final behind East Germany’s Thomas Schonlebe, Okagbare will be heading to Moscow as a sure bet for a podium finish in three events – 100m, 200m and the long jump.

Women’s 100m

A few weeks ago, Okagbare became the first Nigerian and African woman to run under 10.80 seconds over 100m when she smashed the African record twice on her way to victory at the London Diamond League, beating Olympic champion Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in a time of 10.79 in the final.

To date, no African woman has ever won a medal in the 100m or 200m at the World Championships, but Okagbare could be the athlete to put an end to that slightly surprising statistic.

But it won’t come easy as she has a large field of rivals to beat if she is to emerge victorious in Moscow.

One of such rivals is America’s Carmelita Jeter, who will be hoping to retain her world championships title, despite her erratic season, which was threatened by a mid-season injury sustained in Shanghai.

The 33-year-old American has since recovered and returned to sub-11 territory in the heats of the 100m at the IAAF Diamond League in London last month, but then withdrew from the final as a precaution.

However, her season’s best of 10.93 is only the 10th best time on this year’s world list.

But no fewer than 12 women have broken the 11-second barrier this year. And the list includes the American trio of English Gardner, Octavious Freeman and Alexandria Anderson, who all smashed their personal bests and ran well below 11 seconds at the US championships.

Double Olympic gold medallist and 2009 World champion Fraser-Pryce leads the 2013 world list with 10.77, but in her last race before Moscow, she was beaten by Okagbare.

Women’s 200m

Okagbare will be less of a threat in the 200m event where all eyes will be on Allyson Felix, who will be seeking her fourth World Championship 200m crown.

Having added the Olympic title in London last year to the three World Championship titles in her kitty, few would back heavily against the 2012 World Athlete of the Year emerging victorious again. However, the American has shown rare fragility this season, winning only two out of her four 200m finals so far this year.

Unlike Felix, Okagbare has been in blistering form this season, boasting an unbeaten record from her three races over the distance this year, even setting a lifetime best of 22.31, which makes her a genuine threat to her 200m rivals, including America’s Kimberly Duncan, who finished ahead of Felix at the US Championships in June, and Fraser-Pryce who took the silver behind Felix at the Olympics and ran a world-leading 22.13 at the Jamaican National Championships.

Women’s Long Jump

If Okagbare will need some element of luck to secure a medal in the 200m, that won’t be the case in the long jump even though she won’t be the outright favourite for the gold medal.

That honour rightfully belongs to America’s Brittney Reese, who will be seeking an unprecedented sixth consecutive global gold medal in the event.

In the space of four years, the American has won two World Championships gold medals, two World Indoor Championships gold medals and the Olympic title. So gold in Moscow would make her the first woman in history to win three World Championships gold medals in the long jump.

But after a promising start to the season when she jumped a Diamond League record of 7.25m in Doha, Reese’s past two competitions have not quite gone to plan.

She registered three fouls at the US Championships and was then beaten at the Lausanne Diamond League meeting by Okagbare.

But Reese has a knack of getting it right when it matters most and she won’t surrender her crown without a fight.

Nonetheless, if anyone is going to upset the reigning champion in Moscow, then Okagbare looks to be the best bet.

She finished second to Reese in Doha with a wind-aided 7.14m, before jumping to 6.98m victory in Lausanne, followed by a win in Monaco, jumping a wind-assisted 7.04m and a legal personal best of 7.00m.

It won’t however be a straight battle for the gold between Okagbare and Reese as other jumpers such as Russia’s duo of Olga Kucherenko and Darya Klishina (both with season bests of 7.00m and 7.01m respectively) as well as Germany’s Sostene Moguenara (who set a personal best of 7.04m this year), all have the quality to secure a medal in the long jump which gets underway this morning.

No Nigerian athlete has been able to win a medal at the World Championships since Gloria Alozie’s second-place finish in Seville, back in 1999.

But none of the athletes in Moscow, save for Okagbare, has been registered to compete in four events (including the 4x100m relays), so it looks set to be a very busy week for the Nigerian.

Nevertheless, if she does succeed to win a medal in any of the individual events she will be competing in, not only would she be the first African woman to win a medal in any of those three events, but she could potentially become the first woman in the history of the World Championships to make it on to the podium in all three events.

And if the women’s 4x100m relay team secures a medal in Moscow, who says Okagbare, of whom much was expected from at last year’s Olympics only for her to return home empty-handed, won’t be heading back to Nigeria from the Russian capital with four medals hanging from her neck.