Omoba Oba means ″ruler″ in the Yoruba and Bini languages of West Africa. Kings in Yorubaland, a region which is in the modern republics of Benin, Nigeria and Togo, make use of it as a pre-nominal honorific. Examples of Yoruba bearers include Oba ...

Adegboyega Folaranmi Adedoyin,

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...

(11 September 1922 – January 2014) was a

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

n-born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

high jumper and

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

er, who became the first Nigerian to compete in an Olympics final in 1948.

Personal life

He was born in Shagamu,

Ogun Ogun or Ogoun (Yoruba: Ògún, Portuguese: Ogum, Gu; also spelled Oggun or Ogou; known as Ogún or Ogum in Latin America) is a spirit that appears in several African religions. He attempted to seize the throne after the demise of Obatala, who ...

, the second son of the local

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

. He came to the United Kingdom in 1942 to study at Queen's University of Belfast where he graduated in medicine in 1949.

Athletics career

He won the 1947

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the officia ...

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second large ...

in the high jump with a clearance of 1.93 metres. Adedoyin featured in a 1947 newsreel by

Pathé News Pathé News was a producer of newsreels and documentaries from 1910 to 1970 in the United Kingdom. Its founder, Charles Pathé, was a pioneer of moving pictures in the silent era. The Pathé News archive is known today as British Pathé. Its col ...

focusing on university sports. In the footage, he is described as 'a good bet to represent Britain at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

'. He went on to compete in the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

, both in the high jump and the

. In the high jump, on 30 July, he qualified for the final, as one of 20 competitors who made it past the qualifying round, where a height of 1.87 metres was needed to qualify. The sheer number of competitors in the high jump meant that the event seemed endless. In the final he jumped 1.90 metres on his third attempt to come twelfth – if he had cleared it on his first attempt he could have finished as high as sixth. A day later in the long jump, he qualified by virtue of placing in the top twelve in the qualifying round as less than twelve athletes reached the qualifying distance of 7.20 metres, with only five reaching it in the final. Adedoyin was one of these, placing fifth with a jump of 7.27 metres. His personal best jumps were 1.969 metres in the high jump (1949) and 7.35 metres in the long jump (1947).

Life after athletics

After the Olympics, he went back to Nigeria to practise as an obstetrician-gynaecologist. He died in January 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adedoyin, Adegboyega Folaranmi 1922 births 2014 deaths Nigerian male long jumpers Nigerian male high jumpers English male long jumpers English male high jumpers Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics People from Sagamu English people of Yoruba descent Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom Yoruba royalty Yoruba sportspeople Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Royal Olympic participants