Simidele Adeife Omonla Adeagbo, (born July 29, 1981 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario, Canada) is a Nigerian

skeleton racer Skeleton is a winter sliding sport in which a person rides a small sled, known as a skeleton bobsled (or -sleigh), down a frozen track while lying face down and head-first. The sport and the sled may have been named from the bony appearance of ...

who competed at the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

. She is Nigeria and Africa’s first female skeleton athlete. She was the first black female Olympian in the sport. In 2022, she won the woman's mono bob event in the 2022 EuroCup, held in Germany. In so doing, she became the first athlete from Africa to win an international sled race. Before competing in skeleton, Adeagbo competed in

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

, last competing in 2008.

Early life

Adeagbo was born in

, in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada, to Nigerian parents. She moved to

Ibadan, Nigeria Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total population ...

when she was an infant, and lived there for six years before moving to the United States.

Career

Adeagbo served as a Nike body double for

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...

. Adeagbo is a marketing manager for Nike in South Africa since 2012. On August 18, 2018, Adeagbo spoke alongside other noteworthy speakers, to a sold-out audience during the '' TEDxLagos'' spotlight event at the

Muson Centre MUSON Centre (Musical Society of Nigeria) is a performance hall in Lagos. The multipurpose civic auditorium is located in the heart of Lagos Island, situated between the National Museum, the City Mall, the Onikan Stadium and the former offic ...

. She shared the stage with legal practitioner Supo Shasore, Award-winning technologist

Ade Olufeko Ade Abayomi Olufeko . (born 1980), is an American-born designer, technologist, and entrepreneur primarily active in Lagos. His international work in humanities has been leveraged by Consortiums, NGOs, and high-impact leaders. He is the founder ...

, Art curator Tokini Peterside and media personality

Banky W. Olubankole Wellington (born 27 March 1981), popularly known by his stage name Banky W and credited in film as Banky Wellington, is a Nigerian singer, rapper, actor, entrepreneur and politician. Early life Olubankole Wellington was born in the ...

amongst others.

Sports career

Adeagbo started Track and Field competition in highschool. She retired from Track and Field competition in June 2008. At that time, she failed to qualify for the Olympics by 8-inches. She had become a 4-time NCAA All-American, and was the triple jump record holder for the University of Kentucky. Adeagbo became interested in skeleton in December 2016, when she heard about the Nigeria bobsled team attempting to qualify for the Olympics. She first tried to qualify for that team at tryouts in July 2017, where she had to try in a skeleton sled instead of a bobsled. She started skeleton in September 2017. She became sponsored by her employer, Nike, for skeleton. Adeagbo competed at her first Olympics at the

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

, as part of the Nigerian team, becoming the first Nigerian to compete at the Winter Olympics. She was the Nigerian flagbearer at the

2018 Winter Olympics closing ceremony The closing ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics was held on 25 February 2018 from 20:00 to 22:05 KST (UTC+9). The ceremony took place at Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium in Pyeongchang County, South Korea. The director of the organizing committee, ...

Personal bests

Track and field

Skeleton

References

External links

* * * * Nigerian Bobsled and Skeleton Federation: https://bsfnigeria.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Adeagbo, Simidele Skeleton racers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic skeleton racers of Nigeria Nigerian female skeleton racers Nigerian female triple jumpers Canadian sportspeople of Nigerian descent American sportspeople of Nigerian descent American female triple jumpers University of Kentucky alumni Kentucky Wildcats women's track and field athletes 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Ibadan