There’s no question that female athletes are strong. They have proved time and again that they’re capable of achieving seemingly impossible physical feats.
But female athletes aren’t just strong; they’re powerful. They smash barriers. They transcend sports to become cultural game changers. Here is a list of the Top 5 Nigerian Female athletes.
5. Joy Udo-Gabriel
Joy Udo-Gabriel is a Nigerian sprinter. She was born on the 2nd June, 1999. She won a bronze medal in the 100 metres at the 2018 African Championships, a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2018 Commonwealth Games as well as a gold medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 2019 African Games. She is coached by Feyi Shayo Daramola Udoh. She is from Abia State, Nigeria, graduated from the University of Lagos.
4. Rosemary Chukwuma
Rosemary Chukwuma was born on the 5th December 2001. She is a Nigerian sprinter. She won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2018 Commonwealth Games as well as a gold medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2019 African Games. In 2018, she won a gold medal in the 100 metres at the Summer Youth Olympics, clocking 11.17 seconds. She is from Ekwashi, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Her Personal best records are : 100 m: 11.05 (2022), 200 m: 22.33 (2022)
3. Favour Chukwuka Ofili
Favour Chukwuka Ofili, born on 31st December 2002 is a Nigerian track and field athlete specializing in the 200 metres and 400 metres sprints. She is the 2019 African Games silver medalist in the 400 metres. She is also the 2019 African Youth Champion in the 200 and 400 metres. She holds the National record and the National under 20 record over the 200m with a time of 21.96, thus making her the first Nigerian female athlete to run under the 22 seconds barrier. She ran 10.93s in the 100m at the LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge, LA on April 30, 2022 and became the first female NCAA athlete to run sub 22s and sub 11s.
At just 16, she represented her country at the 2019 World Relays in Yokohama running in the 4 × 100 m and 4 × 400 m relays. She finished second behind Patience George at the 2019 Nigerian Championships and ran under 52 s for the first time in the 400 m. She bettered this mark at the African Games finishing . Favour Ofili, broke Blessing Okagbare’s 200 metres National Record at the Tom Jones Memorial Classic 2022. Ofili ran a blistering 21.96 secs to also become the first collegian female athlete to ever go sub 22 secs.
2. Ese Brume
Ese Brume born 20th January, 1996 is a Nigerians female athletes who specializes in the long jump. She is the current commonwealth champion and a three-time African senior champion in the long Jump and holds a personal best of 7.17 m (23 ft 6+1⁄4 in). She currently holds the Commonwealth games record, African Junior records and African record in the event. She’s a two time medalist at the world athletics championship, an Olympic bronze medalist and also a five-time African junior champion in athletics.
She is from Ughelli, Delta State, Nigeria, coached by Yahaya Kayode, and Hasan Maydon. She is also the only female athlete to win three consecutive Long Jump titles at the African Championship in Athletics as well as the first African to win two Long Jump medals at the World’s Athletic Championship
Brume was the long jump gold medalist at the 2013 African Junior Athletics Championships, 2014 Commonwealth Games, 2014 African Senior Athletics Championships and 2015 African Junior Athletics Championships. She also represented Nigeria at the World Junior Championships in Athletics in 2014. Brume represented Nigeria at the 2016 Olympic Games where she placed 5th in the Long Jump final with a leap of 6.81m. Brume won the bronze medal in the Long Jump event at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, with a jump of 6.91 m and at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, with a jump of 6.97 m.
In 2022, she became the first African female athlete in history to jump four legal marks over 7.00m. She did it in style with a new Games Record of 7.00m as she reclaimed title she won eight years ago in Glasgow, Scotland. With the gold medal by Brume, Team Nigeria’s total haul of 12 gold medals is the best the country has ever secured since taking part in the Commonwealth Games.
1. Tobi Amusan
Oluwatobiloba Ayomide Amusan born 23rd April 1997 is a Nigerian track and field female athlete who specialises in the 100 metres hurdles and also competes as a sprinter. She is the current African, Commonwealth and World Champion in the 100m hurdles as well as the record holder in the three competitions. She became the first Nigerian world champion in an athletics event when she won the 2022 World Athletics Championships 100 metres hurdles gold medal, setting a new world record of 12.12 seconds in the semifinal, followed up by a wind-assisted 12.06 seconds in the final to take the gold medal. She won back to back African and commonwealth titles in 2018 and 2022 in the 100m hurdles and is also a two-time African Games champion in the event. She won the Diamond League Trophy in Zurich in 2021 in the 100m hurdles becoming the first Nigerian to do so, also breaking the then African Record held by Glory Alozie in the process.
She hails from Ijebu Ode, Nigeria. She finished from Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School, Ijebu-Ode. And attended the University of Texas at El Paso She is coached by Lacena Golding-Clarke and Mika Laaksonen.
From an early age, Amusan was an accomplished female athlete. She was a silver medallist at the 2013 African Youth Championships in Warri. She also claimed gold in the 100 metres hurdles at the 2015 African Junior Athletics Championships in Addis Ababa. In 2015, while making her All-Africa Games debut as an eighteen year old, she won the gold medal in the 100 metres hurdles. She is from a family of athletics as both her parents were athletes. Her father played volleyball for Ogun State while her mother was a sprinter in her tertiary school days.
This are the current list of the top 5 female athletes in Nigeria in 2022. We’re open to your different opinions and it’ll be attended to in the comment section. feel free to share this article if you find it helpful.
