Chioma Ajunwa

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Born into what she describes as 'a very poor home' in Ahiazu-Mbaise, Ajunwa is the last of nine children, with six brothers and two sisters. Her father died while she was still young, leaving her mother to support the family alone. At 18, she gained admission into university but could not register due to her mother's inability to pay tuition. She opted to train as an automobile mechanic but abandoned the idea after her mother's disapproval. She originally played football for the Nigerian women's team and was a member of The Falcons during the 1991 Women's World Cup, but was constantly benched. Of her short-lived football career she stated: 'I've not regretted the decision [to leave football] because I've made my mark in athletics. I could have continued with football but there was a particular coach. He knew then that I was the best player in the team, but he decided to keep me on the bench throughout every match, so I left the team's camp.' She played as an attacker. She then focused on track and field, specializing in the 100 m, 200 m, and long jump. She won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 1990 Commonwealth Games, and gold medals in the long jump at the 1989 African Championships and the 1991 All Africa Games. In 1992, she was banned from the sport for four years after failing a drug test, despite maintaining her innocence. After her suspension, she won the women's long jump at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta with a jump of 7.12 meters on her first attempt in the final, becoming the first West-African woman and first Nigerian to win an Olympic gold medal in a track and field event. In 2003, she told The Vanguard: 'I toiled so much for this country, but then I was dumped...That I could be the only individual gold medal winner for Nigeria in over half-a-century of participation in the Olympics and I could still be treated like a scourge, I couldn't believe it.'

Reader's Guide

Chioma Ajunwa's significance lies in her historic Olympic gold medal, which broke barriers for Nigerian and African women in field events. Her achievement at the 1996 Atlanta Games made her a national icon, though she later expressed feeling undervalued compared to the Nigerian football team. She received the national award of Member of the Order of Niger from Head of State Sani Abacha, but complained that she was overlooked compared to the Super Eagles, saying: 'I was given the MON award, right, but without 'E-Y.' When I heard of what was given to my brothers in the Super Eagles for winning the Nations Cup, I was amazed because you can see the difference...I'm not envious of anybody but this is the time to express my feelings that I deserve more.' She also received a chieftaincy title from Imo State and a Golden Jubilee Independence Award on 30 September 2010 from President Goodluck Jonathan. Beyond competition, she has been an anti-doping advocate: on 30 April 2010 she delivered a paper on 'War against the use of illicit Drugs in Sport' at an AFN Interactive Session, and later that year launched a personally-financed campaign called 'Compete Fair & Clean' involving banners, workshops, and T-shirts with anti-doping messages. In December 2017, she launched the Chioma Ajunwa-Okpara Foundation to discover new Nigerian sports stars, and in March 2018 the Foundation sponsored an Under-16 Athletics Championship for Secondary Schools in collaboration with the Abia State government. She has also served as Chairperson of the Women's Development Committee of Imo State Football Association (2011), as a Member of the Committee on the Revival of the Nigeria Academicals Sports Competitions (2011), and as Assistant Commissioner of Police (2018–Date).

Did You Know?

• She is the last of nine children, with six brothers and two sisters.
• She won Olympic gold in the women's long jump with a jump of 7.12 meters on her first attempt in the final.
• She was banned from athletics for four years after failing a drug test in 1992, but maintained her innocence.
• She played as an attacker for the Nigerian women's football team at the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup.
• In 2017 she launched the Chioma Ajunwa-Okpara Foundation to discover new Nigerian sports stars.