Chinwe Okoro (born 20 June 1989) is a Nigerian track and field athlete who competes in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

and the discus throw. She is a three-time African champion and holds the Nigerian record for the discus throw at .

Career

Okoro grew up in Kentucky, attending high school in

Russell Russell may refer to: People * Russell (given name) * Russell (surname) * Lady Russell (disambiguation) * Lord Russell (disambiguation) Places Australia *Russell, Australian Capital Territory *Russell Island, Queensland (disambiguation) **Ru ...

, and holds dual Nigerian-American citizenship. She attended the University of Louisville and combined athletics and academics as a student-athlete. She won the American junior title in the shot put in 2008 and was an NCAA All-American in 2011. Her high marks in her

physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

studies made her a five-time Big East Conference All-Academic, and she later won the Michael Hale Scholarship to continue with her studies via a doctorate at

Bellarmine University Bellarmine University (BU; ) is a private Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky. It opened on October 3, 1950, as Bellarmine College, established by Archbishop John A. Floersh of the Archdiocese of Louisville and named after Saint Rober ...

. Her first international competition came at the

2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 2008 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Bydgoszcz in Poland at the Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium between 8 and 13 July 2008. Previously Bydgoszcz hosted t ...

, where she finished tenth in the shot put.Chinwe Okoro
IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-02-27. Her first senior medals followed at the

2012 African Championships in Athletics The 2012 African Championships in Athletics was held at the Stade Charles de Gaulle in Porto Novo, Benin from 27 June to 1 July 2012. It was the first time that Benin had hosted the event. Medal summary Men Women Medal table Participatin ...

, where she won the discus throw and was runner-up to

Vivian Chukwuemeka Vivian Peters-Chukwuemeka (born 4 May 1975) is a Nigerian shot putter and two-time Olympian. She won the gold medal in the shot put at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and has won three consecutive titles at the All-Africa Games from 1999 to 2007. She ...

in the shot put in a Nigerian medal sweep. Chukwuemeka was later disqualified for doping, however, elevating Okoro to double throws champion at the event. Okoro missed the 2013 season but returned improved the year after and successfully defended her discus title at the

2014 African Championships in Athletics The 2014 African Championships in Athletics was held in Marrakech, Morocco from 10 to 14 August 2014. The competition was the 19th edition of Africa senior championships. The competition served as preparation to African athletes for the next conti ...

with a

championship record The sports under the umbrella of athletics, particularly track and field, use a variety of statistics. In order to report that information efficiently, numerous abbreviations have grown to be common in the sport. Starting in 1948 by Bert Nelson a ...

and personal best throw of . She was again runner-up in the shot put, with Cameroon's

Auriol Dongmo Mekemnang Auriol Sally Dongmo Mekemnang (born 3 August 1990) is a Cameroon-born Portuguese track and field athlete who competes in the shot put and discus throw. She represented Cameroon at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the World Athletics Championships ...

being the women's champion on that occasion.Mulkeen, Jon (2014-08-14)
Souleiman, Ndiku and Ahoure among winners on final day of African Championships
IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-02-27. She represented Africa in both throws events at the

2014 IAAF Continental Cup The 2014 IAAF Continental Cup was an international track and field sporting event that was held in Marrakech, Morocco, on 13–14 September 2014. It was the second edition of the IAAF Continental Cup since the name and format was changed from t ...

, held a month later at the same venue in

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

, and was sixth in shot put and seventh in discus. Okoro qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics with a throw of 61.58. She represented Nigeria in the discus throw and finished 14th out of 34.

Personal bests

*Shot put: (2012) *Discus throw: (2016)

International competitions

References

External links

*
Interview
with Athletics Africa {{DEFAULTSORT:Okoro, Chinwe Living people 1989 births Track and field athletes from Kentucky Nigerian female shot putters Nigerian female discus throwers Louisville Cardinals women's track and field athletes Bellarmine University alumni American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Nigeria 21st-century Nigerian women