Olusoji Adetokunbo Fasuba (born 9 July 1984) 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 ...

.Athlete biography: Olusoji Fasuba
beijing2008.cn, ret: 26 August 2008 He was the African record holder in the event with 9.85 seconds until

Akani Simbine Akani Simbine (born 21 September 1993) is a South African sprinter specialising in the 100 metres event. He was fifth at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's 100 metres and was the 100 metres African record holder with a time of 9.84 second ...

broke it in July 2021 with 9.84 seconds. He was a member of the Nigerian bronze medal winning team in the

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 ...

at the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. The same year he won the

African Championships An African Championship is a top level international sports competition between African athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships ;Athletics *African Championships in Ath ...

in 100 metres. He won the silver medal at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

behind

Asafa Powell Asafa Powell, CD (born 23 November 1982) is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialised in the 100 metres. He set the 100 metres world record twice, between June 2005 and May 2008 with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds. Powell has consiste ...

and was the indoor world champion over

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 ...

in 2008, becoming the first African to complete the feat.

Early life

Fasuba was born in

Sapele ''Entandrophragma cylindricum'' is a tree of the genus '' Entandrophragma'' of the family ''Meliaceae''. It is commonly known as sapele or sapelli ( ) or sapele mahogany, as well as aboudikro, assi, and muyovu. Origin of the name The name ''sa ...

, Delta State in Nigeria, the eldest of three children. Sprinting was part of his family life as his mother, a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n, was a runner in her youth and is the cousin of

Don Quarrie Donald O'Riley Quarrie CD (born 25 February 1951) is a Jamaican former track and field athlete, one of the world's top sprinters during the 1970s. At the 1976 Summer Olympics he was the gold medallist in the Olympic 200 meters and silver med ...

, a

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

Olympic gold medallist. His parents encouraged him to run from a young age and he was so fast that

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

s would ask him to compete for them, even though he was of

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

age. Furthermore, he was a proficient

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and, as a result, he managed to attend Merit Mixed Secondary School through an athletics scholarship. He dominated the school's athletics events, winning not only the sprint events but also the

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

and

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 ...

. Fasuba continued his studies at

Obafemi Awolowo University Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is a federal government-owned university that is located in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1961 and classes commenced in October 1962 as the University of Ife ...

in Ile-Ife but found the work difficult. Encouraged by his mother, he decided to leave the education system in favour of athletics, his foremost passion.Carole Fuchs and Dare Esan (2008-08-03)
Focus on Athletes - Olusoji Fasuba

IAAF 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 for ...

. Retrieved on 2009-04-16.

Athletics career

Fasuba had his breakthrough year in 2003, starting with the 2003 national trials. He was selected for the

at the

2003 World Championships in Athletics The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. Men's results ...

and finished fourth with the Nigerian team. Fasuba closed the year with a win in the 100 m at the inaugural

Afro-Asian Games The Afro-Asian Games were the series of inter-continental multi-sport competitions, held between athletes from Asia and Africa. These Games are one-of-a-kind, since no other sporting competition brings athletes from these two continents together ...

. In 2004, he went on to win at the

2004 African Championships in Athletics The 14th African Championships in Athletics were held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo in July, 2004. Since African Championships is a biennial event, this edition was contested only a month before 2004 Summer Olympics. Thus some top athletes sh ...

, and won his first major medal a few months later – an Olympic bronze medal as part of the 4×100 m relay team at the 2004 Athens Olympics. The following year he competed in the 100 and 200 m at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, but failed to reach either final. In early 2006 he finished fifth at the World Indoor Championships and second at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

. He then established a new African record with 9.85 seconds from the

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

Grand Prix in May, breaking

Frankie Fredericks Frank "Frankie" Fredericks (born 2 October 1967) is a former track and field athlete from Namibia. Running in the 100 metres and 200 metres, he won four silver medals at the Olympic Games (two in 1992 and two in 1996), making him Namibia's only ...

' old record of 9.86 s from 1996, Fasuba's run was remarkable as he is almost a foot shorter than many other sprinters, he is thought to have one of the fastest footspeeds in athletics. Despite having injury problems throughout the season, Fasuba defended his regional title at the 2006 African Championships. For his 2006 achievements, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria chose him as the Nigerian Male Athlete of the Year. He won two gold medals at the 2007 All-Africa Games, winning in the 100 m and 4×100 m relay. However, the occasion was marred by calls for him to be banned from the Nigerian team following a misunderstanding: Fasuba had planned to celebrate with the Nigerian flag but he had to abandon the celebration after he was called to take a drugs test.Broadbent, Rick (2008-05-09)
Olusoji Fasuba's difficult race for recognition
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

''. Retrieved on 2009-05-06. On 26 August 2007, he finished fourth in the 100 m at the 2007 World Championships with 10.07 s. Fasuba won the World Indoor Championships 60 m sprint on 8 March 2008 in a time of 6.51 s. 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 ...

he competed at the 100 m and placed second in his heat after

Tyson Gay Tyson Gay (born August 9, 1982) is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 and 200 meters. His 100 m personal best of 9.69 seconds is the American record and makes him tied for the second fastest athlete over 100 m ...

in a time of 10.29 s. He qualified for the second round in which he improved his time to 10.21 seconds. However, he was unable to qualify for the semi-finals as he finished in fourth place after Richard Thompson, Gay and

Martial Mbandjock Martial Mbandjock (born 14 October 1985 in Roubaix) is a French sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres., beijing2008.cn, ret: Aug 26, 2008 His personal best time is 10.06 seconds, achieved in July 2008 in Albi. He won the bronze medal in the ...

. Fasuba was entered into the 100 m at the 2009 World Championships, but his performance was modest and he was eliminated in the second round after running 10.25 seconds. After a poor start to 2010, he was not selected to defend his 60 m title at the

2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010. Bidding and organisation Th ...

as Sunday Bada 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 ...

stated he was not in form.

Personal life

Fasuba is the first child of Olumide and Evelyn Fasuba, and has a younger brother (Kayode) and a younger sister (Yinka). He met Ngozi Nwokocha, a

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

runner, at his first national athletics training camp in 2003 and they are now married They have 1 daughter.Resume
Olusoji Fasuba official website. Retrieved on 2009-04-16.

Military career

In April 2011 Olusoji joined the Royal Navy applying through the Royal Navy Careers Office in Oxford, and embarked on a career as Logistician (Supply Chain) Rating. He hopes to continue with athletics as a hobby and compete for the Royal Navy. He stated that the reason behind this was that he was looking for a more settled life for his family. Now a fully qualified Logistician.

Achievements

''Last updated April 2009'' Having beaten Frank Fredericks' previous mark, Fasuba was the 100 m African record holder with 9.85 s until

of Kenya broke it with 9.84 in 2021, followed by

Ferdinand Omanyala Ferdinand Omanyala Omurwa (born 2 January 1996) is a Kenyan sprinter competing in the 60 metres, 100 m and 200 m. In 2022, he won his first international championships, with victories in the 100 m at the Commonwealth Game ...

lowering it to 9.77 later that year. Furthermore, this places him as the joint-twentieth fastest 100 m runner ever and the fifth-fastest runner outside of the NACAC area behind Omanyala,

Marcell Jacobs Lamont Marcell Jacobs Jr. (born 26 September 1994) is an Italian track and field sprinter and former long jumper. He is the 2020 Olympic 100 metres champion, the 2022 60 metres world champion, the 2022 European 100 metres champion, and a memb ...

, Su Bingtian, and Simbine. He also has the fourth fastest time by an African runner in the

with 6.49 s; only

Leonard Myles-Mills Leonard ("Leo") Myles-Mills (born May 9, 1973, in Accra, Greater Accra Region) is a Ghanaian former athlete who specialized in the 100 metres. He ran a personal best of 9.98 seconds for the event in 1998, becoming the first Ghanaian to break the ...

, fellow Nigerian

Deji Aliu Deji Aliu (born 22 November 1975 in Lagos) is a Nigerian sprinter. He won the 100 metres event at the 2003 All-Africa Games. He also took fourth place in the event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Aliu formed part of the Nigerian relay team w ...

, and Morne Nagel have run faster.

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF profile.Biography Fasuba Olusoji A.

. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.

References

External links

*
Official homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fasuba, Olusoji 1984 births Living people Nigerian male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Nigeria Yoruba sportspeople Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Nigeria Olympic bronze medalists for Nigeria Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Sportspeople from Delta State Nigerian people of Jamaican descent Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) African Games gold medalists for Nigeria African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games World Athletics Indoor Championships winners S.L. Benfica athletes Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games