Violet Obiamaka Odogwu-Nwajei (born May 15, 1942) is a former Nigerian track and field athlete. She is a former president of the

Athletic 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 Comm ...

and a vice-president of the

Confederation of African Athletics The Confederation of African Athletics (CAA; French: ''Confédération Africaine d'Athlétisme'') is the continental association for the sport of athletics in Africa. It is headquartered in Dakar, Senegal. It organises the African Championships in ...

Life

Odogwu was born in

Asaba Asaba is the capital city of Delta State, Nigeria. It is located at the western bank of the Niger River, in the Oshimili South Local Government Area. Asaba had a population of 149,603 as at the 2006 census, and a metropolitan population of o ...

, Delta State. She started her education in the city before moving to

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

, where she completed her secondary education. In the 1950s, Violet and her sister Juliet ran for the Ladies Sports Club. In 1958, she represented Nigeria at the 1958 Commonwealth Games. Her progressive performance at the event earned her the 'Sports Woman of the Year' award. After the games, she continued with her studies, taking courses in secretarial studies. In 1963, she went back to athletics and represented Nigeria at the first All-African Games in the 80-metre hurdle. Odogwu was a member of the Nigerian contingent at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston. At the Kingston Games, she earned a bronze medal by jumping 20 feet, inches, in the long jump event to become the first female African medalist at the Commonwealth Games. In 1968, she captained the Nigerian women's athletics team to the 1968 Olympics. She did not win a medal but was a finalist in

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 gr ...

She was a bronze medalist at the Little Olympics, held a year earlier in preparation for the main event.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Odogwu, Violet Nigerian female long jumpers Nigerian female high jumpers Nigerian female hurdlers Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Nigeria Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Nigeria Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics 1942 births Living people 20th-century Nigerian women Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games