Doreen Amata’s target is to set a new national record, jump above 2m and secure her third consecutive All-Africa Games title in 2015. One can tell that she is well on her way…
The All-Africa Games two-time champion proved her ability at the IAAF World Challenge Meeting in Senegal over the weekend where she made her best jump in four years, winning the event with a distance of 1.94m.
She cleared 1.94m to win the event and move to joint third on the IAAF top list of performers so far for in 2015. It is also Amata’s second best mark ever since she first cleared 1.95m on July 3, 2008 in Abuja Nigeria.
The Delta born athlete returned in force after having her first baby, to claim a spot among the top 10 women high jumpers ahead of the World in Korea. An amazing feat you’d agree, but not without hassles.
The high jump queen has encountered several hitches on her ride to excellence, but each one has left her stronger and more focused. At Berlin in 2009, Doreen Amata was unable to make it to the final, with a jump of 1.85m; but that didn’t break her, instead, she worked more and improved in Daegu two years later, qualifying for the final in 1.95m, before finishing joint 8th with Uzbekistan’s Svetlana Radzivil with a distance of 1.93m in the final. Again in 2013, she failed to qualify for the Moscow Championships, yet she aims to become the first Nigerian woman to get a medal of any colour in her event at the World Championships.
Interestingly, Amata’s new mark has now qualified her for the 2015 World Championships in Beijing and has moved her up from No.16 on the IAAF Top List to No.3! One can say certainly that the athlete is on the path to break her own National Record (NR) of 1.95m, which was set in 2008 and equaled at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu. The forthcoming World Championships in August will be Amata’s third outing at the biennial competition.
Doreen Amata’s success has left smiles on the faces of fellow Africans, reminding them that Africa never fails.
Kudos to the High jump queen and God bless Africa, the land of her birth.
