General view as atheles compete in the athletics women's 20m race walk final during the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast on April 8, 2018. Adrian DENNIS / AFP
Fadekemi Olude, a debutant race-walker who represented Nigeria at the ongoing Commonwealth Games, says she has no regret placing 10th at the event which took place on April 8.
Olude told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) from Gold Coast on Monday that she was not disappointed with the result as it was her first race at the international level.
“I didn’t feel bad that I did not win the first three positions because this is my first international competition in senior category.
“I have learnt some things; when I get home, I will need to inform my coach on what we need to put more in our training.
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“I thank God for finishing the race, because it was not easy,” she said.
Olude finished her race with a time of 1:49:31 sec, few minutes behind Australia’s Jane Kara Saville Games record of 1:32:46 sec set in 2006.
She said that in spite of running 1:49:31 sec , she was happy running alongside world athletes.
” I feel happy to some extent because I know that some of the race-walkers have been attending international competitions for long and some of them are even Olympians,” she said.
NAN reports that the Ogun-state athlete is the current 20 km national record holder with a time of 1:42:52 sec.
Jemima Montag of Australia came first with a time of 1:32:50 sec, Alana Barber of New Zealand came second position with 1:34:18 sec.
Wale’s Bethan Davies returned a time of 1:36:08 sec to clinch third place while Lauren Khushbir of India came fourth with a time of 1:39:21 sec, and Gemma Bridge of England returned fifth with a time of 1:39:31 sec.
She commended her personal coach and the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) for showcasing her at the Games.
Source: G Sport
