Ene Francisca “Franca” Idoko-Isaac (born 15 June 1985, in

Benue State Benue State is one of the North Central states in Nigeria with a population of about 4,253,641 in 2006 census. The state was created in 1976 among the 7 states created at that time.The state derives its name from the Benue River which is th ...

) is a Nigerian sprinter who specializes 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 ...

., beijing2008.cn, ret: 27 August 2008 Her personal best time over 100 m is 11.14 seconds, achieved in July 2008 in

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

. Her personal best time over 60 m is 7.09 seconds, achieved in February 2008 in

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...

. Thus, Ene was known as Olympic Games Silver medallist, African Championships Silver medallist and Olympic Games finalist.

Married life

Ene France Idoko married Uche Isaac, who is also a Nigerian sprinter. She then changed her name to Franca Idoko-Isaac. She left sports, which has been part of her for ten years, when she became pregnant. Idoko-Isaac had a baby boy named Chris Uche Isaac and stayed away from sports for two years to nurse her baby.

Career in sports

Ene won the bronze medal with the African

4 x 100 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

team at 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 Athe ...

. In

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior at ...

she finished seventh at the

2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Luis Puig Palace in Valencia, Spain, March 7–9, 2008. Bid Valencia was announced the winning bidder by the IAAF on November 13, 2005 at an IAAF Council meeting in Moscow, R ...

. At the 2008 African Championships she finished fourth in the 100 metres. At the

2008 Summer 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 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

she competed at the

sprint. In her first round heat she placed fourth, normally causing elimination, but her time of 11.61 seconds was among the ten fastest losing times, which gave her a spot in the second round. There she failed to qualify for the semi finals as her time of 11.66 was only the seventh time of her heat. Together with

Gloria Kemasuode Gloria E. Kemasuode Ubiebor (born 30 December 1979 in Delta State) is a female track and field sprint athlete, who competes internationally for Nigeria. Kemasuode represented Nigeria at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, competing at ...

Agnes Osazuwa Agnes Osazuwa (born 26 June 1989 in Benin City, Edo) is a female track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for Nigeria.

and

Oludamola Osayomi Oludamola Bolanle ("Damola") Osayomi (born 26 June 1986 in Ilesha, Osun State) is a Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres and 200 metres. She is a four-time gold medallist at the African Championships in Athletics and won an Oly ...

she also took part in the 4x100 metres relay. In their first round heat they placed fourth behind

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

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 is ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Their time of 43.43 seconds was the best non-directly qualifying time and the sixth time overall out of sixteen participating nations. With this result they qualified for the final in which they replaced Osazuwa with

Halimat Ismaila Halimat Oyinoza Ismaila (born 3 July 1984 in Ilorin, Kwara) is a Nigerian track and field athlete who won a bronze medal in 4x100 metres relay at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

. They sprinted to a time of 43.04 seconds, a third place and a bronze medal behind

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and Belgium. In 2016, the Russian team was disqualified and stripped of their gold medal due to doping violations by one of the Russian runners,

Yuliya Chermoshanskaya Yuliya Igorevna Chermoshanskaya (russian: link=no, Юлия Игоревна Чермошанская; born 6 January 1986 in Bryansk, Russian SFSR) is a Russian track and field athlete. She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 4x100 metr ...

, thereby promoting Nigeria to the silver medal position. Ene Franca Idoko said “It is a great feeling, having a bronze medal before and now silver. She is also excited to be addressed as an Olympics silver medalist.

Achievements

References

External links

Article on return to competition
by Athletics Africa * 1985 births Living people Nigerian female sprinters Olympic athletes of Nigeria Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Nigeria People from Benue State Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) African Games silver medalists for Nigeria African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games Olympic female sprinters 21st-century Nigerian women {{Nigeria-athletics-bio-stub