Three great Norwegian athletic talents with foreign background portrayed great performance in the recent Diamond League Athletics 2011 at Bislett Stadium Oslo, Norway. The three are Christina Vukicevic 100 meter hurdles, Ezinne Okaparaebo 100 meters and Jaysuma Ndure 200 meters.
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| Christina Vukicevic |
Christina Vukicevic was born in Norway of a Serbian father and Norwegian mother. She is coached by her father Petar Vukicevic, who participated in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. She is Silver Medalist in European Junior Championships 2005 and World Junior Championships 2006. She has represented Norway in many European and World events and in the Summer Olympics 2008 in Beijing.
Christina had the best performance of the trio in Bislett. She easily won the 100 meter hurdles final for women with record time of 12.97 seconds. She led the way from the start to the finishing line and was 16 hundredth of a second before her next rival the American Kristi Castlin. This was her first win in the Diamond League. Afterwards, a happy Christina did a lap of honor to the joy of the ecstatic Oslo crowd.
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| Christina Vukicevic |
Later speaking to NRK TV cameras and reporter she said “I does not cry at funerals, but today this is different” as joyous tears flowed. Proud of her brilliant performance she proclaimed “I won and with a good margin. I run from them from the start to the finish. I beat them quite easily. Is it proper to put it that way”, she asked.
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| Ezinne Okaparaebo (Center) |
Ezinne Okaparaebo hails from Nigeria and has lived in Norway since the age of nine. She represented Norway in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing where she competed in women 100 meters but she did not qualify for her second hit. She is a Silver Medalist on 60 meter event in the 2009 European Indoor Championships in Turin.
Ezinne finished third in the women’s 100 meter dash. She recorded a time of 11.17 seconds her best so far. She holds the Norwegian record in the race 11.23 seconds. Although her new time was an improvement to her Norwegian record, due to the help she got from the wind the new time was not recognized.
Okaparaebo’s performance was impressive beating many competitors who had previously beaten her. Ezinne was splendidly happy with her performance and confirmed that she was in good form.
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| Jaysuma Ndure (Right) |
Jaysuma Ndure has his roots in Gambia where he began his athletic career. He now represents Norway having changed his nationality in 2006. Ndure is a holder of Gambian and Norwegian records in both 100 and 200 meters. He is a bronze medalist from the African Championships and several top three-rankings in IAAF Golden League and IAAF World Athletics Final.
Ndure finished second in the 200 meters men’s race in Bislett behind the winner, the incredible Olympic Champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica. Ndure registered a time of 20.43 seconds. He was, however, not extremely happy with distance between him and Bolt, and blamed it on wet ground due to heavy down pours in Oslo then and fatigue as a result of jetlag from the travel from US where he had been training. He had just arrived in Norway that morning.
Overall he confided that he was satisfied with the performance vowed to try to beat Bolt next time. He said that “I like to compete and I like to compete against Usain. I love to compete against the best because I can try to beat him. I did not manage today but I will continue to try and try. He said he will try to beat Bolt in the World Championship.
Confronted with Ndure’s comments, Bolt said that everything is possible. We have known each other over a couple of years and I know he is focused. If he does not suffer any injuries all is possible. I respect all, he concluded.
For each of the three athletes, Bislett performance was a step closer to their dreams. Here in this blog we would like to celebrate with them their achievement and dreams. Keep focused and you will accomplish your dreams. Remember that you are also an inspiration to many young men and women in Norway.
