Blessing Okagbare Makes Special Public Request On 35th Birthday

Top Nigerian sprinter, Blessing Okagbare on Monday made a special request to the public in celebration of her 35th birthday.

Naija News reports that the Olympic medalist via her verified Instagram page asked the public to join her in raising funds for Emmanuel Oguma, father of budding athlete Ese Oguma, who is in need of a kidney transplant.

Okagbare wrote, “Special Birthday Request. If you’re close to me, you already know I do these things privately without putting it out there for public consumption.

“As a special birthday request, I want everyone to join me as we raise funds to Save a life… it means a lot to me, the family and everyone that loves this individual. Thanks and God bless you all.”

So far, $691 has been raised, with $26,000 being the target.

Blessing Okagbare ‘Accepts’ 10-Year Ban

Meanwhile, Blessing Okagbare last year, assumably accepted a 10-year ban slammed on her by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) Disciplinary Tribunal.

Naija News recalls that the 33-year-old sprinter was handed the ban in mid-February 2022 for allegedly breaching multiple anti-doping rules.

Nigeria’s 2008 long jump silver medalist due to the development, got expelled from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics before the women’s 100m semi-finals after she was confirmed positive for human growth hormone at an out-of-competition test in Slovakia on July 19.

Okagbare had denied taking the said prohibited substances by injection or any means.

She pointed to her long history of ‘negative’ tests, including 10 of the 12 she underwent between 16 April 2021 and 30 July 2021.