Oluwakemi Adekoya (born 16 January 1993 in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

) is a Nigerian-born

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 who competes for Bahrain. She specialises in the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ...

and has a personal best of 54.59 seconds – a Bahraini record. In January 2019, it was reported that Adekoya tested positive for an illegal steroid

stanozolol Stanozolol ( abbrev. Stz), sold under many brand names, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication derived from dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It is used to treat hereditary angioedema. It was developed by American pharmaceutical company W ...

in an out-of-competition test in November 2018 and was provisionally suspended. All of her results achieved after 24 August 2018 were also stripped.

Biography

Oluwakemi Adekoya established herself as a hurdler at national level in Nigeria in 2011, placing fifth at the Nigerian championships. In 2012, she improved her best to 57.16 seconds to place second at 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 ...

meet in

Warri The city of Warri is an oil hub within South-South Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State Government House. Warri City is one of the major hubs of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. Warri and her twin city, Uvwie are the commercial ...

. That year she was runner-up at the Nigerian Olympic trials, but did not have the sufficient qualifying standard.Omogbeja, Yomi (2014-05-16)
The curious case of Kemi Adekoya in Bahraini colours
Athletics Africa. Retrieved on 2014-06-20. She was selected for the

2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors (born 1993 or later) which was held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, on 10–15 ...

but did not compete. In 2013, Kemi set a new personal best of 55.30 seconds, finishing runner-up to

Muizat Ajoke Odumosu Muizat Ajoke Odumosu Alademerin (born 27 October 1987 in Lagos) is a Nigerian track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres and the 400 metres hurdles. She represented Nigeria at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics and competed at ...

, Nigeria's leading hurdler, and also set a flat 400 metres best of 52.57 seconds.Kemi Adekoya
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2014-06-20. Her hurdles best ranked her within the top thirty fastest athletes in the world that year. Adekoya's first race of 2014 marked a significant change for her career. Making her debut on the Diamond League circuit, she defeated the entire elite 400 m hurdles field in a surprise win. Her time of 54.59 seconds was a world-leading one, and also a Bahraini national record – she had switched nationality to the oil-rich state at the start of the year and displayed a banner saying "I ♥ Bahrain" after her victory. This move was unknown to Solomon Ogba, the head of

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 ...

, who was present at the race in Doha and lodged a complaint with the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

, claiming her move as out-of-process. However, as Adekoya had never formally registered with the national federation, the country could not block the move.Efe, Ben (2014-06-07)
Kemi Adekoya: A loss to Nigerian athletics
''Vanguard Nigeria''. Retrieved on 2014-06-20. Nigerian officials and media noted the case as an example of African nations losing their top home-grown athletes to richer non-African nations (Nigerian sprinters Samuel Francis and Femi Ogunode both moved to

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

). In her second Diamond League race she was a close second to

Kaliese Spencer Kaliese Spencer Carter (born 6 May 1987) is a Jamaican track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles. She won the bronze medal in the event at the 2012 London Olympics. Spencer was the Commonwealth Games champion in 2014 an ...

at the

Bislett Games The Bislett Games is an annual track and field meeting at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. History The first international athletics meeting at Bisl ...

, then took third place at the

Golden Spike Ostrava Golden Spike ( cz, Zlatá tretra) is an annual athletics event at the Městský Stadion in Ostrava- Vítkovice, Czech Republic as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1961. The history of the meeting was interru ...

meeting. On Saturday, 13 August 2016 on Day 9 of the

Rio 2016 ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

Olympic Games in

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 ...

, Kemi ran an all time personal best of 50.72 to come out second behind America's Phyllis Francis who ran at 50.58 seconds there by qualifying for the semi-final

In January 2019, it was reported that Adekoya tested positive for an illegal steroid

in an out-of-competition test in November 2018 and was provisionally suspended. All of her results achieved after 24 August 2018 were also stripped, including the two gold medals in the 400 hurdles and the 4x400 mixed relay at the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 Augus ...

Personal bests

– 54.12 seconds (2015) * 400 metres – 50.72 seconds (2016)

References

8.^https://www.rio2016.com/en/athletics-womens-400m-round-1-heat-3

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adekoya, Kemi Living people 1993 births Bahraini female hurdlers Nigerian female hurdlers Bahraini female sprinters Nigerian female sprinters Olympic athletes of Bahrain Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for Bahrain Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Bahrain Bahraini sportspeople in doping cases Nigerian sportspeople in doping cases Nigerian expatriates in Bahrain Yoruba sportswomen World Athletics Indoor Championships winners Sportspeople from Lagos