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Chioma Ajunwa

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Chioma Ajunwa
Personal information
Born (1970-12-25) 25 December 1970 (age 53)
Umuihiokwu, Nigeria
Medal record
Women's Athletics
Representing  Nigeria
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta Long Jump
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place 1990 Auckland 4x100 m relay
World Indoor Championships
Silver medal – second place 1997 Paris Long Jump

Chioma Ajunwa-Opara, MON, OLY (born 25 December 1970) – also known as Chioma Ajunwa – is a Nigerian former track and field athlete and football player, notable for being the first Nigerian to win Olympic gold at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta,[1][2] and the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal in a field event.[3] A member of the Nigerian Police Force,[4] Ajunwa remains the only woman to compete at both the FIFA Women's World Cup as a footballer and the Olympics as a track and field athlete.[5]

In December 2017, Ajunwa launched the Chioma Ajunwa-Okpara Foundation to discover new Nigerian stars in sports.[6] The Foundation, in collaboration with the Abia State government, sponsored an Under-16 Athletics Championship for Secondary Schools in March 2018.[7]

Early life

Born into what she describes as "a very poor home", Ahiazu-Mbaise-native Ajunwa was the last of nine children, with six brothers and two sisters. Her father died while she was still young, leaving his wife to solely support a large family. At 18, Ajunwa, who had been a keen athletics participant during her school years, gained admission into university but was unable to register due to her mother's inability to pay her tuition. She opted to train as an automobile mechanic instead, but abandoned the idea following her mother's disapproval.[8][9][10]

Football

As a professional sportswoman, Ajunwa originally played football for the Nigerian women's team and was a member of The Falcons during the Women's World Cup in 1991, but as she was constantly benched, her skill was seldom used.[11] Of her short-lived football career Ajunwa has stated "I've not regretted the decision [to leave football] because I've made my mark in athletics. I could have continued with football but there was a particular coach. He knew then that I was the best player in the team, but he decided to keep me on the bench throughout every match, so I left the team's camp.[12] She played as an attacker.[13]

Track and Field

Ajunwa performed as a track and field athlete and specialised in the 100m, 200m and long jump. She competed at the 1990 Commonwealth Games, winning a bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay, and competed at the African Championships in 1989 and the All Africa Games in 1991 where she won gold medals in the long jump. Ajunwa was banned from the sport for four years after failing a drug test in 1992 despite maintaining her innocence.[14]

Following the completion of her suspension, Ajunwa went on to become the first West-African woman, as well as the first Nigerian, to win an Olympic gold medal in a track and field event when she emerged victorious in the women's long jump event at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, with a jump length of 7.12 meters (on her first attempt) during the final. In 2003, she stated in an interview with The Vanguard "I toiled so much for this country, but then I was dumped...That I could be the only individual gold medal winner for Nigeria in over half- a-century of participation in the Olympics and I could still be treated like a scourge, I couldn't believe it."[15]

Recognition

Member of the Order of Niger

Following her Olympic gold medal at Atlanta '96, Ajunwa was given a national award – Member of the Order of Niger (MON) – by the then Head of State of Nigeria Sani Abacha, but complained that she was overlooked compared to the Nigerian football team claiming "I was given the MON award, right, but without 'E-Y.' When I heard of what was given to my brothers in the Super Eagles for winning the Nations Cup, I was amazed because you can see the difference...I'm not envious of anybody but this is the time to express my feelings that I deserve more."[16]

Community Chieftaincy Title

Imo State awarded her a chieftaincy title.[17]

Nigeria Golden Jubilee Independence Awards

On 1 October 2010, Nigeria celebrated its 50th Independence anniversary.[18] As part of that celebration, on Thursday 30 September 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan conferred special Golden Jubilee Independence Awards on 50 distinguished Nigerians and friends of Nigeria including Ajunwa for their contributions to the development of the country.[19]

Appointments and membership of bodies

  1. Chairperson of the Women's Development Committee of Imo State Football Association.[20] 2011
  2. Member of Committee on the Revival of the Nigeria Academicals Sports Competitions.[21] 2011
  3. Assistant Commissioner of Police.[22] 2018 - Date

Anti-doping campaign

On Friday 30 April 2010, Ajunwa delivered a paper on "War against the use of illicit Drugs in Sport" at an Interactive Session organised by Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) In the second half of 2010, Ajunwa stepped up her anti-doping activities by starting an integrated campaign aptly tagged 'Compete Fair & Clean'. This personally-financed initiative involves communicating messages directly to athletes and coaches at athletic events. Awareness and Red-flag workshops and seminars are being organised with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN). Banners are placed at athletic events and informative publications as well as T-shirts with anti-doping messages are given to athletes and coaches.[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ Nigeria's Historic Olympian: Chioma Ajunwa Opara, Nigeria's only individual Olympic gold medalist and a national hero. - CNN
  2. ^ "Chioma Ajunwa Biography and Statistics". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2009.
  3. ^ Nigeria's Historic Olympian: Chioma Ajunwa Opara, Nigeria's only individual Olympic gold medalist and a national hero. - CNN
  4. ^ Chioma Ajunwa-Opara: From Olympics Success to Busting Crime
  5. ^ From Grass To Olympic Gold – The Inspiring Story Of Chioma Ajunwa
  6. ^ "Ajunwa-Okpara now ACP, seeks support for Foundation". The Sun Nigeria. 13 December 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  7. ^ Udeajah, Gordi (20 March 2018). "Abia hosts first Chioma Ajunwa Foundation U-16 Athletics Championships this weekend". The Guardian.
  8. ^ Chioma Ajunwa, mon Nigeria’s first Olympic gold medallist: My bitter-sweet story Archived 7 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Ajunwa Chioma NGR" (Web page). iaaf.org. International Association of Athletics Federations. 1996–2009. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  10. ^ Poverty Made Me a Mechanic Archived 2 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Chioma Ajunwa – FIFA competition record (archived)
  12. ^ "I'll never regret dumping football for athletics – Chioma Ajunwa". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  13. ^ "Chioma Ajunwa - Player Profile - Football".
  14. ^ "Ajunwa Chioma NGR" (Web page). iaaf.org. International Association of Athletics Federations. 1996–2009. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  15. ^ Nigeria: I Suffered Too Much for Nigeria – Chioma Ajunwa
  16. ^ Fallout of AFCON presidential largesse: I need house in Abuja – Chioma Ajunwa Archived 24 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ "Chioma Ajunwa-Opara, Former Athlete, Police Officer, Prominent Nigerian, Nigeria Personality Profiles". www.nigeriagalleria.com. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  18. ^ "50 Nigerians Honored | Nigeria's 50th Independence". Nigeriaat50.gov.ng. Retrieved 13 February 2012.[permanent dead link‍]
  19. ^ "Chioma Ajunwa-Opara, Former Athlete, Police Officer, Prominent Nigerian, Nigeria Personality Profiles". www.nigeriagalleria.com. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  20. ^ "AJUNWA JOINS IMO FA | Blog | Complete Sports". Completesportsnigeria.com. 7 April 2011. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  21. ^ "Odegbami Heads Committee on Revival of Academics Sports | Blog | Complete Sports". Completesportsnigeria.com. 7 April 2011. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  22. ^ "Chioma Ajunwa Named Assistant Commissioner of Police | Blog | Legit Ng". legit.ng. 7 April 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  23. ^ "Chioma Ajunwa-Opara, Former Athlete, Police Officer, Prominent Nigerian, Nigeria Personality Profiles". www.nigeriagalleria.com. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
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