Chioma Ajunwa-Opara, MON,

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(born 25 December 1970) – also known as Chioma Ajunwa – is a Nigerian former

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 and football player, notable for becoming the first Nigerian to win

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, and the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal in a field event. A member of the

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, Ajunwa remains only woman to compete at both the FIFA Women's World Cup as a footballer and the Olympics as a track and field athlete. In December 2017, Ajunwa launched the Chioma Ajunwa-Okpara Foundation to discover new Nigerian stars in sports. The Foundation, in collaboration with the Abia State government, sponsored an Under-16 Athletics Championship for Secondary Schools in March 2018.

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 the fees. She opted to train as an automobile mechanic instead, but abandoned the idea following her mother's disapproval.

Football

As a professional sportswoman, Ajunwa originally played football for the Nigerian women's team and was a member of ''

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'' during the Women's World Cup in 1991, but as she was constantly benched, her skill was seldom used. Of her short-lived football career Ajunwa has stated "I've not regretted the decision o leave footballbecause 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. She played as an attacker.

Track and Field

Ajunwa performed as a track and field athlete and specialised in the

100m 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 ...

, 200m 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 ...

. She competed at the 1990 Commonwealth Games, winning a bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay, and competed at the

African Championships An African Championship is a top level international sports competition between African athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships ;Athletics *African Championships in Ath ...

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 A drug test is a technical analysis of a biological specimen, for example urine, hair, blood, breath, sweat, or oral fluid/saliva—to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs or their metabolites. Major applications of dr ...

in 1992 despite maintaining her innocence. 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 Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

in a track and field event when she emerged victorious in the women's long jump event at the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, 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."

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 Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who ruled as the military head of state of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. He seized power on 17 November 1993 in the last successful c ...

, 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."

Community Chieftaincy Title

Imo State awarded her a chieftaincy title.

Nigeria Golden Jubilee Independence Awards

On 1 October 2010, Nigeria celebrated its 50th Independence anniversary. As part of that celebration, on Thursday 30 September 2010, President

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to fo ...

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.

Appointments and membership of bodies

#Chairperson of the Women's Development Committee of Imo State Football Association. 2011 #Member of Committee on the Revival of the Nigeria Academicals Sports Competitions. 2011 #Assistant Commissioner of Police. 2018 - Date

Anti-doping campaign

On Friday 30 April 2010 Ajunwa delivered a paper on "War against the use of illicit Drugs in Spor" 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 The Athletics Federation of Nigeria is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Nigeria. It is a member of the Confederation of African Athletics and the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was founded as the Central Com ...

(AFN). Ganners are placed at athletic events and informative publications as well as T-shirts with anti-doping messages are given to athletes and coaches.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ajunwa, Chioma 1970 births Living people Nigerian female long jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Nigeria Olympic gold medalists for Nigeria Nigerian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in athletics Nigerian women's footballers Nigeria women's international footballers 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup players Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Members of the Order of the Niger Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Nigeria Women's association football forwards Rivers Angels F.C. players African Games gold medalists for Nigeria African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships athletes for Nigeria History of women in Nigeria Nigerian police officers 20th-century Nigerian women 21st-century Nigerian women Athletes (track and field) at the 1991 All-Africa Games Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games