- Francis Obikwelu
-
Francis Obikwelu
Obikwelu in 2011.Personal information Nationality Portugal
Born 22 November 1978
NigeriaSport Sport Running Event(s) 100 metres, 200 metres Medal recordMen's Athletics Competitor for Nigeria
World Junior Championships Gold 1996 Sydney 100 m Gold 1996 Sydney 200 m World Championships Silver 1997 Athens 4x100 m relay Bronze 1999 Seville 200 m All-Africa Games Gold 1999 Johannesburg 200 m Competitor for Portugal
Olympic Games Silver 2004 Athens 100 m European Championships Gold 2002 Munich 100 m Gold 2006 Gothenburg 100 m Gold 2006 Gothenburg 200 m Silver 2002 Munich 200 m European Indoor Championships Gold 2011 Paris 60 m Lusophony Games Gold 2009 Lisbon 100 m Competitor for Europe
IAAF World Cup Gold 2002 Madrid 200 m Silver 2006 Athens 100 m Bronze 2002 Madrid 100 m Francis Obiorah Obikwelu, born 22 November 1978 in Nigeria and a Portuguese citizen since 2001, is a sprint athlete specializing in 100 metres and 200 metres. He holds the record for the fastest time in the 100 m set by a European competitor with a time of 9.86 seconds.[1] He finished second in the 100 m at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, the first medal ever in athletics sprinting events for Portugal. He won 100 m and 200 m in 2006 at the European Championships in Athletics and became the first athlete to win both 100 m and 200 m in the same European Championship since 1978. Kim Gevaert also succeeded in this double victory at the same Championship.
He was voted Waterford Crystal European Male Athlete of the Year for 2006 by the European Athletic Association, in an internet poll open to member federations, media and the general public.[2]
Obikwelu announced his retirement from competitive athletics after failing to qualify for the 100 m finals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but retracted his statement, agreeing to honour the last year of his contract with his track club.[3] Obikwelu won the 100 m gold medal at the 2009 Lusophony Games.[4]
Contents
From Football to Athletics
At the age of 14, one of Obikwelu's football coaches in Nigeria noticed him and suggested he try out athletics. After two years he was representing Nigeria in the 1994 African Junior Championships and won the silver medal in the 400 metres.[5]
From Nigeria to Portugal
He based himself in Lisbon, Portugal, as a 16-year-old, after competing at the 1994 World Junior Championships. After being rejected by both Sport Lisboa e Benfica and Sporting Clube de Portugal, he worked for a while as a construction worker in the Algarve. He decided to learn Portuguese, and his teacher put him in contact with Belenenses, where he restarted practising. While living in Portugal, Francis was adopted by a lady who he now proudly refers to as his "mother".
He then made a decision to run for Portugal. The news was broken in July 2000 by Nigerian sprinter Mercy Nku, who like Obikwelu is based in Lisbon. She said Obikwelu took the decision because of neglect by Nigerian sports officials when he was injured while representing Nigeria in Sydney, Australia. "He had to go to Canada to undergo an operation on his knee spending his own money." He became a Portuguese citizen in October 2001.
Both his athletics achievements, his life story and his personality made him a popular figure in his adoptive country, where he is nicknamed Chico, the short form of the Portuguese version of his first name.
He currently competes for Sporting Clube de Portugal.
Athens 2004
In the qualifiers he was one of the most impressive runners, managing two times under ten seconds (beating the Portuguese record). In the final he recovered from a non-medal position in the second half of the race to reach Silver, just one hundredth of a second behind Justin Gatlin and one hundredth ahead of Maurice Greene, managing to beat the European record set by Linford Christie in 1993. He finished fifth in the 200m.
Statistics
- As of September 9, 2008
Personal bests
Event Time (seconds) Venue Date 50 metres 5.79 Liévin, France 28 February 2004 60 metres 6.53 Paris, France 5 March 2011 100 metres 9.86 Athens, Greece 22 August 2004 200 metres 19.84 Seville, Spain 25 August 1999 400 metres 46.29 Unknown 3 June 1998 - All information from IAAF Profile[6]
Awards and honours
Olympic Games
- 2nd 100 m, 2004 Athens, GRE 9.86
- 5th 200 m, 2004 Athens, GRE 20.14
World Championships
- 2nd 4 x 100 m Relay 1997 Athens, GRE 38.07
- 3rd 200 m 1999 Seville, ESP 20.11
World Indoor Championships
- 3rd 200 m 1997 Paris, FRA 21.10
- 1st 60 m 2011 Paris, FRA 6.53
European Championships
- 1st 100 m 2002 Munich, GER
- 2nd 200 m 2002 Munich, GER
- 1st 100 m 2006 Goteborg, SWE 9.99
- 1st 200 m 2006 Goteborg, SWE 20.01
Golden League
- 1st 100 m 2004 Saint-Denis, FRA 10.06
- 1st 200 m 2004 Saint-Denis, FRA 20.12
- 1st 100 m 2001 Berlin, GER 9.98
- 2nd 100 m 2002 Brussels, BEL 10.01
- 3rd 200 m 2004 Zurich, SUI 20.36
- 3rd 200 m 2004 Bergen, NOR 20.46
- 1st 100 m 2008 Madrid. ESP 10.04
Grand Prix
- 1st 100 m 2002 Lausanne, SUI 10.09
- 3rd 200 m 2001 Athens, GRE 20.59
- 3rd 200 m 2001 Nice, FRA 20.41
Grand Prix Final
- 3rd 200 m 2001 Melbourne, AUS 20.52
- 5th 100 m 2002 Saint-Denis, FRA 10.03
Super Grand Prix
- 1st 200 m 2004 Madrid, ESP 20.29
- 2nd 100 m 2004 Lausanne, SUI 10.02
- 2nd 200 m 2003 Madrid, ESP 20.59
Additionally, Obikwelu was the 1996 world junior champion over 100 m and 200 m.
References
- ^ "100 Metres All Time". IAAF. 2008-08-09. http://www.iaaf.org/statistics/toplists/inout=O/age=N/season=0/sex=M/all=y/legal=A/disc=100/detail.htmx. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
- ^ "Waterford Crystal European Male Athlete of the Year 2006". European Athletic Association. 2007-01-09. http://www.european-athletics.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4664&Itemid=2. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ Valiente, Emeterio (2009-07-09). Obikwelu shines in Salamanca. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-07-23.
- ^ Fernandes, António Manuel (2009-07-14). Évora, another title in Lisbon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-07-23.
- ^ The Star
- ^ "Obikwelu, Francis biography". IAAF.org. http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/letter=0/athcode=50109/index.html. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
External links
- IAAF profile for Francis Obikwelu
Awards Preceded by
Virgilijus Alekna
Men's European Athlete of the Year
2006Succeeded by
Tero Pitkämäki
Sporting positions Preceded by
Ato Boldon
Men's 200 m Best Year Performance
1999Succeeded by
Michael Johnson
Records Preceded by
Linford Christie
European Record Holder Men's 100 m
22 August 2004 – presentSucceeded by
IncumbentEuropean Athlete of the Year (men) Linford Christie (1993) · Colin Jackson (1994) · Jonathan Edwards (1995) · Jan Železný (1996) · Wilson Kipketer (1997) · Jonathan Edwards (1998) · Tomáš Dvořák (1999) · Jan Železný (2000) · André Bucher (2001) · Dwain Chambers (2002) · Christian Olsson (2003) · Christian Olsson (2004) · Virgilijus Alekna (2005) · Francis Obikwelu (2006) · Tero Pitkämäki (2007) · Andreas Thorkildsen (2008) · Phillips Idowu (2009) · Christophe Lemaitre (2010) · Mo Farah (2011)
European Champions in Men's 100 m 1934: Chris Berger (NED) • 1938: Tinus Osendarp (NED) • 1946: John Archer (GBR) • 1950: Étienne Bally (FRA) • 1954: Heinz Fütterer (FRG) • 1958: Armin Hary (FRG) • 1962: Claude Piquemal (FRA) • 1966: Wiesław Maniak (POL) • 1969: Valeriy Borzov (RUS) • 1971: Valeriy Borzov (RUS) • 1974: Valeriy Borzov (RUS) • 1978: Pietro Mennea (ITA) • 1982: Frank Emmelmann (GDR) • 1986: Linford Christie (GBR) • 1990: Linford Christie (GBR) • 1994: Linford Christie (GBR) • 1998: Darren Campbell (GBR) • 2002: Francis Obikwelu (POR) • 2006: Francis Obikwelu (POR) • 2010: Christophe Lemaitre (FRA)
European Champions in Men's 200 m 1934: Chris Berger (NED) • 1938: Tinus Osendarp (NED) • 1946: Nikolay Karakulov (URS) • 1950: Brian Shenton (GBR) • 1954: Heinz Fütterer (FRG) • 1958: Manfred Germar (FRG) • 1962: Owe Jonsson (SWE) • 1966: Roger Bambuck (FRA) • 1969: Philippe Clerc (SUI) • 1971: Valeriy Borzov (URS) • 1974: Pietro Mennea (ITA) • 1978: Pietro Mennea (ITA) • 1982: Olaf Prenzler (GDR) • 1986: Vladimir Krylov (URS) • 1990: John Regis (GBR) • 1994: Geir Moen (NOR) • 1998: Douglas Walker (GBR) • 2002: Konstantinos Kenteris (GRE) • 2006: Francis Obikwelu (POR) • 2010: Christophe Lemaitre (FRA)
All-Africa Games Champions in Men's 200 m 1965: Gaoussou Koné (CIV) • 1973: Ohene Karikari (GHA) • 1978: Hassan El Kachief (SUD) • 1987: Simeon Kipkemboi (KEN) • 1991: Frankie Fredericks (NAM) • 1995: Sunday Bada (NGR) • 1999: Francis Obikwelu (NGR) • 2003: Uchenna Emedolu (NGR) • 2007: Leigh Julius (RSA) • 2011: Idrissa Adam (CMR)
IAAF World / Continental Cup Champions in Men's 200 m 1977: Clancy Edwards (USA) • 1979 : Silvio Leonard (CUB) • 1981: Mel Lattany (USA) • 1985: Robson da Silva (BRA) • 1989: Robson da Silva (BRA) • 1992: Robson da Silva (BRA) • 1994: John Regis (GBR) • 1998: Frankie Fredericks (NAM) • 2002: Francis Obikwelu (POR) • 2006: Wallace Spearmon (USA) • 2010: Wallace Spearmon (USA)
Categories:- 1978 births
- Living people
- Nigerian sprinters
- Portuguese athletes
- Igbo athletes
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Olympic athletes of Nigeria
- Olympic athletes of Portugal
- Olympic silver medalists for Portugal
- Portuguese people of Black African descent
- Olympic medalists in athletics (track and field)
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