| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1970-12-25)25 December 1970 (age 54) Umuihiokwu, Nigeria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chioma Ajunwa-Opara (born 25 December 1970) – also known asChioma Ajunwa – is a Nigerian formertrack and field athlete andfootball player, notable for being the first Nigerian to win Olympicgold at the1996 Summer Olympics inAtlanta,[1][2] and the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal in a field event.[3] A member of theNigerian Police Force,[4] Ajunwa remains the only woman to compete at both theFIFA 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]
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 anautomobile mechanic instead, but abandoned the idea following her mother's disapproval.[8][9][10]
As a professional sportswoman, Ajunwa originally playedfootball for theNigerian women's team and was a member ofThe Falcons during theWomen's World Cup in 1991, but as she was constantlybenched, 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]
Ajunwa performed as a track and field athlete and specialised in the100m,200m andlong jump. She competed at the1990 Commonwealth Games, winning a bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay, and competed at theAfrican Championships in 1989 and theAll Africa Games in 1991 where she won gold medals in the long jump. Ajunwa was banned from the sport for four years after failing adrug 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 anOlympic gold medal in a track and field event when she emerged victorious in the women's long jump event at the1996 Olympics inAtlanta, with a jump length of 7.12 meters (on her first attempt) during the final. In 2003, she stated in an interview withThe 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]
Following her Olympic gold medal atAtlanta '96, Ajunwa was given a national award – Member of the Order of Niger (MON) – by the then Head of State of NigeriaSani 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 theSuper 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]
Imo State awarded her a chieftaincy title.[17]
On 1 October 2010, Nigeria celebrated its 50th Independence anniversary.[18] As part of that celebration, on Thursday 30 September 2010, PresidentGoodluck 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]
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 theAthletics 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]
African Champions in women'slong jump | |
|---|---|
|
 | ||
