10 Sportswomen Who Have Put Nigeria on the World Stage With Their Exploits
The year 2022 is still at its mid-stage, yet, it already boasts remarkable feats and bodes even more for Nigerian sportswomen and female stars in music, movies and technology.
From Tiwa Savage’s doctorate recognition by the University of Kent, Tems becoming the first African female singer to win Best International Act at BET Awards, to Tobi Amusan’s recent masterstroke in the field of athletics, women have been shattering the barriers of gender stereotypes, breaking personal records, pushing the frontiers in their respective fields and putting Nigeria on the global map with their exploits.
Among Nigerian sportswomen, Rafiatu Lawal is the most recent star to complete an outstanding feat as she won Nigeria’s second gold medal at the ongoing Birmingham Commonwealth Games after emerging top in women’s weightlifting. She broke three games’ records in the 59kg category to lift a combined total of 206kg.
Lawal’s win embellished Adijat Olarinoye’s, who had earlier on July 30, 2022, recorded a total of 203kg in the women’s 55kg weightlifting event – a new Commonwealth Games record and won the first gold medal of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Olarinoye’s feat was coming at a time when millions of Nigerians were still celebrating the victory of Oluwatobiloba Amusan.
Tobi Amusan churned out a record-breaking performance on the world stage on July 25, at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, winning the 100 metres hurdles and smashing the record held by Jasmine Camacho-Quinn. She became Nigeria’s first-ever world champion and a world record holder in athletics.
The event, dubbed World Athletics Championships Oregon22, was watched by almost 150,000 ticketed spectators and has been called “the most universal edition in the history of the global event.” According to NBC, the championships reached 13.7 million people, more than any previous World Athletics Championships. Without a doubt, WCH Oregon22 was a perfect stage to announce oneself as a force to reckon with in the scheme of things – and Amusan did just that.
Long jumper, Ese Brume, the only Nigerian to win a medal at the world championships in Qatar, Doha, in 2019, also won a silver medal at the prestigious event. She came only second to Malaika Mihambo of Germany. Brume was Nigeria’s only medallist at the Tokyo Olympics and the last World Indoor Championship in Belgrade in March 2022.
Although the feats of these women have been the talk of the town, the fact remains that other exemplary Nigerian sportswomen have been making the country proud beyond the shores of Africa through the years. Still, scant attention has been awarded to their patriotic bids. These women, amazons, have blazed a trail and championed the campaign to cement the most populous black nation in the world, Nigeria, into its rightful place as a magnate on the world stage.
Thus, we revisit the story of other Nigerian sportswomen who have put the country on the global map with their exploits.
Chioma Ajunwa (Multisports)
Chioma Ajunwa, a multitalented athlete, leapt 7.12 meters at the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta, winning a gold medal and becoming the first-ever individual Olympic gold medallist from West Africa and Nigeria.
Chioma further put the Nigerian colours out there by becoming the first and only woman to compete in the FIFA Women’s World Cup as a footballer and in the Olympic Games in track and field.
Speaking with Punch about the need to see more Nigerians do well on the world stage, Chioma believes that “the road is open and people need to work to get Nigeria gold because we need them”.
“…it shouldn’t only be Chioma Ajunwa that has won Olympic gold for Nigeria. We need to really do some work so others can go there (the Olympics) and get us (gold) medals. I don’t want to be the first and only Olympic medallist”, she said.
Ajunwa, a police officer, has a foundation – The Chioma Ajunwa Foundation, set up in 2017 to locate and nurture Nigerian sportswomen and enthusiasts.
Mary Onyali (Athletics)
Mary Onyali, a former sprinter, sold Nigeria’s name in Barcelona at the 1992 Olympic games, becoming the first African woman to win a 4x100m relay medal.
She also took 1st position in the commonwealth games 100 metres title, which was held in Canada in 1994. The ex-athlete further represented Nigeria in the USA, Australia, France and Greece.
Mercy Akide-Udoh (Football)
Diverse athlete, Mercy Akide-Udoh, began her journey from the waterside of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. In 2001, she became the first African Women Footballer of the Year after being included in the 1999 FIFA World All-Star teams.
Mercy Akide-Udoh has played for Nigeria in three FIFA World Cups and helped Nigeria’s Super Falcons to three African Women Championships in 1998, 2000 and 2002.
She’s one of fifteen FIFA ambassadors for Women’s football.
Asisat Osoala (Football)
Asisat Osoala has had stints with Liverpool, Arsenal and Dalian Quanjian in China. Currently plying her trade in FC Barcelona, the striker was named best player and was the highest goal scorer at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Canada.
Popular among Nigerian sportswomen, Asisat is the first African and Nigerian player to score a goal in a UEFA Women’s Champions League final. On 16 May 2021, Asisat became the first African woman to win the UEFA Champions League after Barcelona defeated Chelsea 4–0 in the finals.
On July 21, 2022, Asisat Oshoala was crowned 2022 CAF Women’s ‘Player of the Year’, winning it for the fifth time.
Blessing Okagbare (Athletics)
Okagbare, at 19, picked up a bronze medal in the women’s long jump event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
In 2014, she won gold at the Commonwealth Games with a time of 10.85, breaking the game’s record of 10.91 seconds set by Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie earlier at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
Okagbare holds the Guinness World Records for the most appearances in Diamond League Meetings, making 67 appearances between July 3, 2010, and August 31, 2018.
Odunayo Adekuruoye (Combat Sports)
Adekuoroye won a bronze medal in 2015 at the World Wrestling Championship in Las Vegas. A year later, she won a gold medal by defeating Russia’s Nina Menkenova in the final for 55 kg women’s freestyle at the Golden Grand Prix in Azerbaijan.
In 2018, Adekuoroye participated in the 2018 “Gold Coast” Commonwealth in Australia, winning her second Commonwealth gold medal in the Women’s Freestyle 57 kg weight class, defeating Pooja Dhanda of India in the final.
Odunayo has gone on to represent Nigeria and made the Motherland proud in Turkey, Poland, Japan and Moldova. She won a bronze medal in her event at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series 2022, held in Rome, Italy.
Funke Oshonaike (Table Tennis)
Funke Oshonaike began her sports career on the streets of Shomolu, Lagos State, Nigeria, before becoming one of the most consistent female performers that Nigeria has ever seen. The three-time African champion in Table Tennis was the flag-bearer at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil.
Competing in the women’s singles at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Oshonaike has appeared at a total of six Olympic Games, beginning in Atlanta ’96.
Joyce Ekworomadu (Basketball)
Ekworomadu’s parents are Nigerians, but the basketball star was born in the United States. She chose to side with D’Tigress even though she also stood a chance of representing the US.
She was scouted in 2006/07 by then D’Tigress coach Kevin Cook, who then organised trials in Houston. Ekworomadu made the squad for the 2007 All Africa Games, and since then, she’s been an integral member of the side.
Florence Omagbemi (Football)
Omagbemi participated in four world cups for Nigeria, playing with the Nigeria women’s national football team for over a decade. Omagbemi was part of the Nigerian team that competed in the Olympics for the first time in the 2000 edition in Australia and was the first woman to win the Africa Women Cup of Nations as a player and coach.
Loveline Obiji (Special Sports)
The 25-year-old powerlifter set a new world record in the women’s heavyweight category (from 61.1kg) at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, erasing Egypt’s Randa Mahmoud’s previous effort of 143kg with a lift of 144kg.
This was an added medal to her London 2012 Paralympic gold medal, where she set a world record in the 86kg women’s powerlifting event with a lift of 149kg.
In 2020, the Imo State-born powerlifter won a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in the 86kg category with a life of 147kg.
