Anyika Onuora (born 28 October 1984) is a retired British sprint

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete who competed in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

and

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...

, and also the 4×100 metres relay and

4x400 metres relay Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

. Specialising in the short sprints and sprint relays in her early career, and despite being part of the Great Britain 4 x 100 metres relay team that took gold at the

2014 European Athletics Championships The 2014 European Athletics Championships was held in Zürich, Switzerland, between 12 and 17 August 2014. It was the first time that Switzerland had hosted the European Athletics Championships since 1954. Great Britain headed the medal table, wi ...

, a move on her coaches suggestion to the longer 400 sprint and relay in her later career led to her most significant individual and relay successes. In the 4 x 400 metres relay, she won a World Championship bronze medal in 2015, while in 2016 an individual bronze in the 400 metres, and relay gold in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

were followed by an

Olympic bronze medal An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold medal, gold, silver medal, silver, and bronze medal, bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respect ...

in the 4 x 400 metres relay.

Career

Her first major junior international competition was the

2003 European Athletics Junior Championships The 2003 European Athletics Junior Championships was held in Tampere, Finland from 23 to 27 July 2003. A total of 44 events were contested; 22 by men and 22 by women. Germany had the biggest medal haul with nine golds and a total of 26, closely fo ...

, where she finished fifth in the 100 m event and won a silver medal with the British 4×100 metres relay team. She competed in her first major senior tournaments in 2006: at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games she reached the semi-finals of the 100 m and won her second silver medal in the 4×100 m relay with the English team. Five months later at her first

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for men ...

, she achieved the same feat again, reaching the individual semi-finals and taking another silver medal with the relay team. She also competed in the

2006 IAAF World Cup The 10th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event, held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, which took place on 16 and 17 September 2006 at the Olympic Stadium in Ath ...

, representing Europe, but finished last, despite recording a season's best for the team. A technical lane mix-up with the United States team resulted in a poor performance for the British team and disqualification for the American team.Onuora Anyika biography

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

. Retrieved on 2009-05-13.Anyika Onuora Athlete Profile

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It is responsible for organising and overseeing the participation of athletes from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, at both ...

. Retrieved on 2009-05-13. Onuora was chosen to represent

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

as a back-up runner in the relay team; however, ultimately she did not compete for the team. She competed at the 2009

Manchester City Games The Great Manchester Run (styled as the ''Simplyhealth Great Manchester Run'' for sponsorship purposes from 2017) is an annual run through Greater Manchester (namely Manchester, Trafford and Salford). It has consisted of a 10k run since it was ...

in a

150 metres 150 metres is a sprint event in track and field. It is a very rarely contested non-championship and not an IAAF-recognised event. Given the proportion of standard running tracks, the event typically incorporates a bend when held in a track and f ...

street race, winning the "B" final of the women's event. On 28 August 2014, she helped set the British record in the Women's 4 × 100 m running the 3rd leg, alongside Asha Philip, Ashleigh Nelson and Desiree Henry in the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

in Zurich. This broke the British record set 11 days before at the

. She was a member of the bronze medal winning British women's 4 × 400 metres relay team at the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

Personal life

She was born to Nigerian parents. She is the sister of former footballer Iffy Onuora and the academic Emy Onuora, author of the 2015 book ''Pitch Black'', on the experiences of black British footballers. In October 2015, 10 months before winning her bronze medal in Rio 2016, Onuora had become severely unwell from malaria after visiting her late father's home village in Nigeria. Few of her fellow GB athletes were aware that she had been unwell and could not walk due to illness, never mind train in preparation for the Rio Olympics selection trials. Despite this, she qualified for the Olympics, and by 2016 had recovered sufficiently to win gold and bronze medals in Amsterdam and Rio.

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF profile.Onuora Anyika Biography

. Retrieved on 2009-05-12.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Onuora, Anyika 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Liverpool English female sprinters British female sprinters Olympic female sprinters Olympic athletes of Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists European Athletics Championships winners British Athletics Championships winners European Athletics Championships medalists English people of Nigerian descent Black British sportswomen