7 Greatest Olympians Of Igbo Extraction Ranked

The Igbos might be known for business, but that’s not the only area they tend to stand out. In the world of literature, policy, entertainment, and sport, the Igbos have contributed greatly to the country. They have been a great source of legendary sportsmen and sportswomen with outstanding performance in continental and international competitions.

You would struggle to find a better way to measure the greatness of the sports participation of the Igbos that does not take into cognizance their performance in the Olympics. So here, we highlighted the greatest Olympians, of all time, who are Igbo.

Below are the top five Olympians of Igbo Extraction.

Special mentions: Chukwudi “Chidi” Imoh and Davidson Ezinwa

Chidi Imoh and Davidson Ezinwa were part of the quartet that won Silver at Barcelona 1992 Olympics.

Born on the 27th of August 1965 and 22nd of November 1971 respectively, Chukwudi and Davidson are former sprinters from Nigeria. They were both part of the team to win 4×100 Silver at Barcelona 1992, alongside Kayode Oluyemi, and Olapade Adeniken.

7. Emmanuel Amunike

Emmanual was born on 25 December 1970. He played 27 times for Nigeria as an attacking left-winger with a total of nine goals. He also played for Zamalek (Egypt), Sporting CP (Portugal), Barcelona, and Albacete Football Club (Spain).

In 1994, Emmanuel Amunike was crowned African Footballer of the Year and BBC African Footballer of the Year in 1996.

Amunike played an immense role in Nigeria’s Olympic triumph in 1996 as one of the three overaged players. At the final match, Nigeria was tied 2-2 with Argentina. In the last minute, Nigeria had a freekick and when Okocha crossed the ball, Amunike beat Argentina’s offside trap and put the ball past the goalie into glory.

While Kanu was the poster boy for the victory, we would continue to remember Amunike’s last-minute winner.

6. Clement Chukwu

Chukwu’s career took a good turn and several more after he returned in 1996 from a four-year ban for drugs. In 1998 he won gold at the Univaisade and the African Championship of1998. At the All-Africa Games, Chukwu won the silver medal for his team.

He was part of the 4 X 400 team to win silver at Sydney 2000 which was later upgraded to gold after a member of the initial gold-winning US team was found to have doped. The honour came 12 years after the race but the quartet are not inferior champions.

Clement Chukwu is presently retired and works as a Planning Director in the City of Pickerington, Ohio, United States.

5. Gloria Alozie

Gloria Alozie won silver at Sydney 2000 in the 100 hurdles event. Born in Amator, Abia State in 1977, she dominated Africa in hurdling. At the Olympics in Sydney, she ran a really good 12.68 but it wasn’t enough to win gold.

One year later, Alozie dumped Nigeria and became a Spanish citizen whom she began to represent at tournaments.

4. Peter Konyegwachie

Peter Konyegwachie is a great Olympian who hails from Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s hometown, Ogwashi-Uku which is also the place a certain Austin Jay Jay Okocha calls home. A lot is not known about Peter and many may have forgotten his name but we cannot forget what he did in Los Angeles 1984 Olympics.

Read this – List of 60 most iconic Nigerian sportspeople of all time

Before ’84, Nigeria who participated in her first Olympics in Helsinki 1952, has only ever won two bronze medals. They won bronze in Tokyo 1964 and Munich ’72. Nigeria did not participate in Montreal (Canada) in 1976 and won nothing in Moscow ’80.

Then Peter Konyegwachie stepped into the box in Los Angeles. He fought in the Featherweight (54–57 kg) category and won Nigeria’s first-ever silver medal. In the same Olympics, Nigeria’s quartet of Innocent Egbunike, Rotimi Peters, Moses Ugbusien, and Sunday Uti won bronze in the 4 X 100 relay.

Thanks to Peter, Nigeria finished Los Angeles ’84 as the most successful as of that time, the first time with more than one medal.

Peter went on to join professional boxing and retired in 1990 with an impressive 15-1-0 record.

3. Mary Onyali

Mary Onyali owned the name Nigerian queen of track and field in Nigeria. She won bronze in Barcelona ’92 with  Beatrice Utondu, Christy Opara-Thompson, and Faith Idehen as teammates, in the women’s 4X 100m, running 42.81 seconds.

Four years later, she ran 22.38 to win Bronze in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Mary holds the record as the only Nigerian, male or female, dead or alive to win more than one Olympic medal and in two different Olympics events.

Onyali has countless All-Africa Games gold to her name.

2. Kanu Nwankwo

If you remember Kanu Nwankwo’s exploits in Atlanta ’96, you probably have children today. But this is not about you, it is about one of the most remembered periods of Nigeria’s participation in the Olympics. Kanu Nwankwo captained Nigeria to their first-ever team gold in the event.

The semi-final match in which Nigeria faced World Cup champions Brazil with the amazing Bebeto and future World Best players Ronaldo and Rivaldo on the pitch is etched on many memories. Nigeria was losing 3-1 to the dying minutes.

Ipkepa pulled one back at the 78th minute. Kanu scored the equalizer at the 90th minute and then the golden goal that knocked Brazil out at the fourth minute of extra time. Nigeria went on to win the final 3-2 against Argentina.

Kanu Nwankwo is a true winner who contributed greatly to Nigeria’s winning the 1993 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Japan.

The 6 foot 6 inches tall footballer played for famous football clubs such as Ajax, Inter Milan, and Arsenal where he was part of the Invisibles that won the league without a single defeat. He has won the UEFA Champions League and many FA cups.

1. Chioma Ajunwa

Chioma wasn’t just an athlete, she was a sportswoman with great talents. She was part of the Nigerian Super Falcons during the Women’s World Cup of 1991 but she left as her skills were not put to use. She became an athlete who specialized in 100 meters, 200 meters and long jumps.

This happens to be her best decision as she won Nigeria’s first-ever gold at Atlanta 1996. The current police officer who is now married with kids jumped an amazing 7.12 meters to win the gold medal.

While Nigeria has since won two more gold medals, all of them are team sports (football and 4 X 400 relay). Chioma Ajunwa holds the distinction of being the only individual to ever win a gold medal for the country. She is the greatest Olympian ever from Nigeria.

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