Nigeria has once again lost the services of one of its athletes following Peter Emelieze’s successful application for transfer of allegiance from Nigeria to Germany.
The Nigeria-born sprinter has been based in Germany for several years now and runs for club side ASV Köln. Emelieze officially became a German citizen in January 2016, and now possesses dual citizenship of both countries.
He ran the 60m at the German Indoor Championships in February where he finished 3rd with a time of 6.69s, behind Julian Reus (6.62s) and Christian Blum (6.68s).
Emelieze’s eligibility to compete for Germany took effect from April 23, 2016, meaning the sprinter will most likely represent his adopted country at the forthcoming Olympic Games in Rio.
Speaking to Making of Champions about his switch, Emelieze maintains he has no regrets over his decision to stop competing for Nigeria.
He said, “I am totally happy with my transfer of allegiance and I have no regrets at all. I have lived here for a while; it feels like home to me. I also feel more connected to the sport in general residing here in Germany because it gives me the opportunity to do what I enjoy doing best.”
Emelieze kicked off his career as a junior athlete by competing at the 2003 African Junior Championships in Garoua, Cameroun where he won a Silver medal, and then ran at the 2004 World Junior Championships in Grosseto, Italy.
His first appearance for the senior team was at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia where he ran as a member of the 4 x 100m relay team.
Emelieze and Ogho-Oghene Egwero were Nigeria’s only representatives at the 2010 World Indoor Championships in Doha where both athletes got to the semis of the men’s 60m race; he also competed in Istanbul two years later.
Emelieze won a Silver medal at the 2010 African Championships as a member of the men’s 4x100m relay team. He thereafter ran at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, while his final outing for Nigeria was at the London 2012 Olympic Games where he competed in the first round.
He has Personal Bests (PB) of 6.60s in 60m, 10.18s in the 100m and 20.97s in the 200m.
