Uche Devon Eke (born August 12, 1997) is a Nigerian-American gymnast. At the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, he became Nigeria's first Olympic gymnast. He qualified for the Olympics by winning the bronze medal in the

all-around The All-Around is an award given to a rodeo competitor who is most successful in two or more events. Most individual rodeos and championships determine the winner of this award at the conclusion of the other events or championships. Championshi ...

at the 2021 African Championships. He is the

2019 African Games The 12th African Games was held from 19 to 31 August 2019 in Rabat, Morocco. This was the first time that the African Games were hosted by Morocco following the country's readmission to the African Union in January 2017. Bidding process The 12th ...

pommel horse The pommel horse is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. Traditionally, it is used by only male gymnasts. Originally made of a metal frame with a wooden body and a leather cover, the modern pommel horse has a metal body covered with foam rubber and ...

champion and

parallel bars Parallel bars are floor apparatus consisting of two wooden bars slightly over long and positioned at roughly head height. Parallel bars are used in artistic gymnastics and also for physical therapy and home exercise. Gymnasts may optionally we ...

bronze medalist.

Early life

Eke was born in

Gaithersburg, Maryland Gaithersburg ( ), officially the City of Gaithersburg, is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, ...

, United States, on August 12, 1997, to an American mother and a Nigerian father. He began gymnastics when he was four years old. He graduated from Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in 2015.

Career

Eke was recruited by the head coach of the

Michigan Wolverines men's gymnastics The Michigan Wolverines men's gymnastics team represents the University of Michigan and competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Wolverines have won seven NCAA championships, 18 Big Ten championships and have been invited to 31 NCAA tournaments. ...

team during the 2013–14 academic year. He then joined the team in 2016. During his first three seasons, he competed on the pommel horse, the

horizontal bar The horizontal bar, also known as the high bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in artistic gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal (typically steel) bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a syste ...

, and the parallel bars. He missed his senior season due to a shoulder injury and earned a redshirt year for the 2020 season. Eke represented Nigeria at the 2019 African Games where he won the gold medal on the pommel horse, becoming the first Nigerian gymnast to win gold at the

African Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union (AU) with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (AN ...

. He also won the bronze medal on the parallel bars. At the 2019 World Championships in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, he competed on the pommel horse, parallel bars, and horizontal bar, but he did not advance into any event finals. Eke competed for Michigan on the pommel horse,

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

, parallel bars, and horizontal bar during the 2020 season as a graduate student, but the end of the season was canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Uni ...

. He was named to the Academic All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

team and was named a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. Eke won the all-around bronze medal at the 2021 African Championships and qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games. He then competed at the

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. He became the first gymnast to represent

Nigeria at the Olympics Nigeria first participated in the Olympic Games in 1952, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except for the boycotted 1976 Summer Olympics. The nation participated in the Winter Olympic Games in 2018, havin ...

. He finished fifty-eighth in the all-around during the qualification round with a total score of 74.265 and did not advance into any finals.

Education

In May 2019, Eke graduated from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

with a

bachelor’s degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six y ...

computer science engineering Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (including th ...

. He also holds a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

information science Information science (also known as information studies) is an academic field which is primarily concerned with analysis, collection, Categorization, classification, manipulation, storage, information retrieval, retrieval, movement, dissemin ...

from the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eke, Uche African-American male gymnasts American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Competitors at the 2019 African Games African Games medalists in gymnastics Living people 1997 births Nigerian male artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for Nigeria African Games gold medalists for Nigeria African Games bronze medalists for Nigeria 21st-century African-American sportspeople Sportspeople from Gaithersburg, Maryland