OSAYOMI SHIFTS FOCUS TO RELAYS, AFRICA GAMES
All Africa Games defending champion, Damola Osayomi is not bothered by her inability to get into the final of the women sprint event of the 13th IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. She placed 8th in the first semi final race of the women 100m on Monday night here in Daegu.
'I did my best but was not good enough. I am not bothered by that as my focus now is to concentrate on the 4x100m relay slated for weekend. I just hope we can come out with a medal from that race,' observed Osayomi on her way to the Dining Hall of the Athletes Village yesterday morning.
She insisted that instead of brooding over inability to get into the final the same way she did at the 2007 edition in Osaka, Japan, 'my main focus now is to concentrate on the relay training programme as well as look ahead to the All Africa Games in Maputo where I hope to defend my 100m and 200m titles.'
A four-time gold medalist at the African Championships in Athletics, Osayomi with a 10.99 seconds chalked up at the Sao Paulo, Brazil meet showed so much promise to make hay here until she had that awful semis race.
'I know everyone here wanted something from me but don't also forget that as humans, we sometimes don't always get our prayers answered,' observed the former University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) business administration undergraduate. The Ekiti-born sprinter was psyched out of her melancholic mood the morning after the semis by Sunday Bada, the technical director of the AFN who told her she has her future ahead to think of.
' There is no need for Damola to feel bad she could not get into the final. For some of us who attended five World Championships, we understand the pressure and what it means to compete at the highest level of athletics in the world.
At just 24 years, Damola still has more years ahead to achieve her aim, that is if she puts in more efforts,' stressed Bada who ruled the quarter mile with an IAAF World Indoor title in addition to an Olympic 4x400m silver medal at the Sydney Olympics.