4. Chioma Onyekwere
For someone who had dominated the African scene for almost five years, the palpable joy Chioma Onyekwere exuded after winning her first Commonwealth Games title, summed up what it meant to her to become a champion outside Africa.
Onyekwere is one field event athlete Nigeria has been lucky to have, qualifying for all major championships since her first World Championships in Doha three years ago. Interestingly, Nigeria has had good throwers like Chinwe Okoro and Nwanneka Okwelogu, and whilst these throwers wrote their names in Nigerian Athletics history, Onyekwere’s stock has risen higher in recent years.
This year, she became the first Nigerian woman in history to win a GOLD in the Discus event at the Commonwealth Games, exporting her dominance from Africa to a much a bigger stage, where she landed an unprecedented GOLD in this event, going over 60m for the second time this season.
Since 2016 when she made that trip to Durban to represent Nigeria at the African Senior Championships, winning the Bronze, Onyekwere has not tasted defeat again on the continent and has won three continental titles in-between. She was beaten by Okoro and Okwelogu in Durban, and while it had a feel good-factor winning her first medal for Nigeria, she knew that her time would come, having shown some promise with her throw of 53.91m. That season, she threw a then PB of 54.43m in the NCAA.
This year in Mauritius, she successfully defended her African Championships title, making it two consecutive African titles since the first one she won in 2018 while competing on home soil in Asaba. Three African Championships and there are three medals to show for it.
Being an African champion came with an attendant automatic qualification for the World Championships in Eugene. Onyekwere accounted for Nigeria’s participation in the women’s Discus for the second World Championships on the bounce.
Before the World Championships, Onyekwere had relinquished her National title to Obiageri Amaechi; it was an upset she didn’t see coming, and even though the latter had been throwing very well herself, winning Bronze in Port Louis, Onyekwere would still have been considered the favourite to win.
Prior to this season, Onyekwere had hinted that she struggled to get her motivation back, having been one of the 10 Nigerian athletes disqualified from Tokyo 2020, which would have been her first Olympic Games. She looked forward to the Games, and the organisation she works for, Ford Motors, celebrated what was a historic moment for her.
To her credit, she found a way to motivate herself and ended the 2022 season as her best ever outing for Nigeria. Onyekwere showed she meant business in Birmingham, going out into the lead with an SB of 61.70m. She did come under pressure but then held on tenaciously to win GOLD, becoming the first Nigerian woman to do so.
Although she has had many conquests, the one from Birmingham is undoubtedly her best achievement for Nigeria, and what a year she has had for the country, winning two GOLD medals at two different championships. Now that she has tasted victory outside Africa, she will surely be going for more.
