For a country known for its sprinting heritage, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi has walked his way into the hearts of Nigerians by becoming a household name due to his exceptional dominance in the Shot put, etching his name as the country’s most consistent male athlete and Africa’s best shot putter in almost a decade.
Hailing from Anambra State but born and raised in the US, Enekwechi has always been proud of his ancestry and an outstanding ambassador for Nigeria on the global stage.
The five-time African Champion recorded a historic 6th place finish in the men’s Shot put final at the Paris Olympics, his second consecutive outing at the Games, upgrading his 12th position from the Tokyo Games. That position made him the highest-ranked Nigerian male athlete in any event at the Paris Olympics. He also became the first African to compete in back-to-back Olympic shot put finals.
Speaking with Making of Champions after his inspiring feat, Enekwechi said: “I’m extremely proud, I’m relieved. Some things went sideways but honestly I got the throw that got me in the Top 8. My first goal was Top 12, I did that; second goal was Top 8, I did that; so then, after that was to do my very best within the conditions.”
Enekwechi further made history in 2024 by becoming the first Nigerian thrower to make a Diamond League Final. The two-time Olympic finalist placed 5th with a respectable mark of 21.29m, taking his number of 21m+ throws in the 2024 season to 21.
A few months after the Paris Olympics, Enekwechi was inducted into his alma mater’s (Purdue) Hall of Fame for his achievements over the years and his most recent Olympics success, and the delighted thrower took to his Instagram handle to express his gratitude:
“This past weekend, I had the honor of being inducted into the Leroy Keyes Hall of Fame for my alma mater @PurdueSports. It’s one of the highlights of my career thus far…I’d like to thank my family, @chelsiemeeks and her family, all of my best buddies, training partners and teammates, and my coaches, past and current. I would also like to thank my fans and supporters from Indiana, New York, and all over the world for pushing me to be the best possible student-athlete and professional athlete.”
Enekwechi’s path to the international stage began after a successful senior year as a student-athlete at Purdue University where he majored in Law and Society, breaking multiple records across various events including the Discus and Hammer throws, and of course his primary event, the Shot put, along the way.
In 2017, Enekwechi finally got to accoutre himself in the rich colours of green and white at the World Championships held in London and the following year, the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham.
The 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast marked the shift in Enekwechi’s illustrious career. In competition with high-profiled counterparts like Tom Walsh, O’Dayne Richards, and Tim Nedow, the Nigerian showed no sign of pressure as he tossed his implement to a Personal Best (PB) of 21.14m on his third attempt, earning him the Silver medal, his first international medal. Few months later, the thrower won the African title in his debut to the delight of the home crowd in Asaba with a new Championship Record (CR) of 21.08m.
In an interview with Making of Champions afterwards, he said: ‘’It is always good to win, so this is a major medal and I’m elated to win. The series wasn’t pretty but it only takes one, so I got the one and I’m very excited”
2019 was another pivotal year for ‘Big Chuks’. Beginning his season with a new PB of 21.28m at the Taylor George Glass Invitational, he broke the Nigerian Record (NR) formerly held by Stephen Mozia to win the Grande Premio Brasil Caixa Meet in an impressive PB of 21.77m, adding 1cm to Mozia’s previous NR to upset heavy favourite, Darlan Romani of Brazil.
Months later, he bettered the NR by 3cm taking it to a mark of 21.80m. Participating at his first African Games in Rabat, Enekwechi broke the Games Record set by Frank Elemba (20.25m) at the 2015 edition to win the event in 21.48m, becoming the third Nigerian to do so. He then competed at his second World Championships, where he made the final and placed 8th, which was the highest placement for a male Nigerian athlete at the championships since Tosin Oke’s 8th place finish in the Triple Jump at Beijing 2015.
After his 2020 season ended abruptly due to the outbreak of corona virus, Enekwechi was back in action the following year. Having already surpassed the Olympic qualifying mark in 2019, the Nigerian Record holder was getting in shape for the delayed Tokyo Olympics.
Some of his major highlights in the lead up to the Games included the USATF Showcase triumph where he threw a Seasons Best (SB) of 21.53m and the Nigerian Olympic Trials, dominating the field by breaking the facility record and Meet Record (MR) with an impressive mark of 21.47m. At the Olympics, Enekwechi placed 7th overall in the preliminaries to make the cut for the final and finished 12th in the final.
The Nigerian kept building his resume in the 2022 season. At the African Championships, he improved on his CR set at the last edition to defend his title with a mark of 21.20m, becoming the first Nigerian to defend a Shot Put title in the history of the Championships. The last man to defend a Shot put title was Burger Lambrechts of South Africa in 2012.
The high-spirited athlete won his third National title in a new SB of 21.25m in Benin City. Enekwechi once again made the final at the World Championships in Oregon, placing 11th. He returned to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham where he narrowly missed the podium in 4th.
After a long season, the two-time African Champion broke the 36-year-old National Sports Festival (NSF) Hammer throw NR of 66.92m owned by Christian Okoye, setting a new record of 67.45m. Additionally, he retained his Shot put title in a new Festival Record of 20.89m.
2023 was a bitter-sweet season for the National Record holder. He amassed his highest number of 21m throws yet, tossing beyond the 21-metre mark 13 times. He recorded his biggest throw in four years at the Los Angeles Grand Prix, throwing 21.69m to place 5th against a star-studded field that witnessed Ryan Crouser shatter the World Record (WR) in 23.56m.
At the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Enekwechi was a spot shy of making the final, ranking 13th overall despite entering the championships ranked 10th in the world. This was the first he was unable to make an international final since 2018.
Competing in the 2024 indoor season, the 2018 Commonwealth Games Silver medallist produced impressive marks across various competitions including a new African Indoor Record of 21.63m at the Hvězdy v Nehvizdech in the Czech Republic, which secured his Olympic ticket.
Competing at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow as one of the top-ranked Shot putters in the world, Enekwechi settled for 6th with a throw of 21.60m – his highest placement at the World Championships. It was also the Nigeria’s highest placement at the 2024 edition of the Championships.
He opened his outdoor season by retaining his African Games title with a distinguishing mark of 21.06m, the only throw beyond the 21-metre mark in the entire competition. At the LA Grand Prix, he came close to his PB set in 2019 when he swung to a powerful 21.78m.
Exactly a week later, the Nigerian Hulk threatened the 22m barrier, flinging his implement to a sensational PB and NR of 21.91m to claim 3rd place at the Eugene Diamond League. His throw was 6cm away from the African Record.
At the Olympic Trials, Enekwechi claimed his fourth consecutive and fifth National title overall with his opening throw of 21.37m. Moving on to the African Championships in Cameroon, he completed a hat-trick of victories by striking GOLD, adding to his triumphs in 2018 and 2022 respectively. He became the first man since Egypt’s Ahmed Mohamed Ashoush to match such a feat. The Egyptian won the 1984, 1985 and 1988 editions of the championship.
Enekwechi is a clear example that an athlete can get better with time, and if he retains his fitness in the coming years, the Nigerian thrower is poised to become the first African man to enter the prestigious 22-metre club.
