Chukwuebuka Enekwechi

Last updated

Chuk Enekwechi
Chukwuebuka Enekwechi AG2023.jpg
2023 African Games
Personal information
Full nameChukwuebuka Cornnell Enekwechi
NationalityAmerican, Nigerian
Born (1993-01-28) 28 January 1993 (age 31)
Queens, New York, U.S.
Education Purdue University
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) [1]
Sport
CountryFlag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria
Sport Athletics
Sprint Shot Put
College team Purdue Boilermakers
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking8
Personal best(s)Output Shot Put 21.80 (Schifflange 2019)
Indoor Shot Put 21.20 (Iowa City 2023)
Hammer Throw 72.77 (East Lansing 2015)
Medal record
Men's Athletics
Representing Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2018 Gold Coast shot put
African Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2019 Rabat Shot put
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2023 Accra Shot put
African Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2018 Asaba Shot put
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2022 Saint Pierre Shot put
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2024 Douala Shot put
Updated on 21 Sept 2019

Chukwuebuka Cornnell Enekwechi (born 28 January 1993) is a track and field athlete, specializing in throwing events. Born in the United States, he competes internationally for Nigeria. He is the 2018 Commonwealth Games Silver medalist and reigning African Champion in the shot put. [2] He is also the 2019 African Games Champion and the reigning Nigerian National Sports Festival Champion.

Contents

Personal

His parents, Christian and Christiana Enekwechi, are Nigerians from Anambra and Imo State, respectively. He has three siblings. [3] Enekwechi also works as a throws coach for West Lafayette High School. [4] [5]

Career

While competing for Purdue University, he threw the shot put, discus, hammer and weight. He was runner-up at the 2016 NCAA Championships in the shot put and sixth in the hammer that same day. He was the 2014 and 2015 Big Ten Champion in the Hammer Throw and also the Field athlete of the year in 2015. [6]

While at Francis Lewis High School, he won two city championships, [7] and was the 2012 USA Track & Field Youth Champion in the shot put. [8]

Post Collegiate

Enekwechi threw over twenty metres in the shot put for the first time in 2016. He won his first national title at the 2016 Nigerian Championships in Sapele with a distance of 19.60 m. [9] He chased after the Olympic qualification shot put mark of 20.50 m but only managed a best of 20.45 that year. It was in 2017 that he first represented Nigeria internationally. At the London World Championships, he did not make it out of the qualifying round. [10] He also represented Nigeria at the 2018 World Indoor Championships.

2018 was a breakthrough year for Enekwechi. At the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, he won a silver medal behind Tom Walsh with a throw of 21.14 m. At the time, this was a personal best for him. Enekwechi then went on to win the shot put title at the African championships in Asaba later in the year. His winning mark of 21.08 m is the African championships record. As the African champion, he was selected to represent Africa at the Ostrava Continental Cup. In December 2018, he won both the shot put and hammer throw at the 19th National Sports Festival in Abuja. He set a national sports festival record of 20.36 to win the shot put. [11] [12]

He began his 2019 outdoor season with a shot put personal best of 21.28 m at the Taylor George Glass Invitational. [13] [14] This mark remained one of the top ten throws in the world until he bettered it at the Grande Premio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo World Challenge meet. He set a new Nigerian National record of 21.77 m to win the event. [15] This record bettered the previous record held by Stephen Mozia which was 21.76 m. [5] [16] Enekwechi represented Nigeria at the 2019 All Africa Games. Going into the competition, he had bettered his national record with a throw of 21.80 m a little over a week before the games. [17] Showing impressive consistency, he won the event with a 21.48 m throw, which is also an African Games record. [18] This made him the third Nigerian man to win the event at the African Games. He represented Nigeria at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. [19] Going into the championships, he was still ranked within the top ten in the world.

National Titles

Personal bests

Outdoor

Indoor

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valerie Adams</span> New Zealand shot putter

Dame Valerie Kasanita Adams is a retired New Zealand shot putter. She is a four-time World champion, four-time World Indoor champion, two-time Olympic, three-time Commonwealth Games champion and twice IAAF Continental Cup winner. She has a personal best throw of 21.24 metres (69.7 ft) outdoors and 20.98 metres (68.8 ft) indoors. These marks are Oceanian, Commonwealth and New Zealand national records. She also holds the Oceanian junior record (18.93 m) and the Oceanian youth record (17.54 m), as well as the World Championships record, World Indoor Championships record and Commonwealth Games record.

Vivian Peters-Chukwuemeka is a retired Nigerian shot putter and two-time Olympian. She won the gold medal in the shot put at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and has won three consecutive titles at the All-Africa Games from 1999 to 2007. She was the African Champion in the event in 2002, 2006 and 2008. She also competes in discus throw and hammer throw, but not on world level.

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References

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  2. "Obiri and Ta Lou dominate, Samaai defeats Manyonga at African Championships in Asaba". www.iaaf.org. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  3. "2015-16 Track & Field Roster - Chukwuebuka Enekwechi". Purdue University Athletics. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  4. "Former Purdue All-American raises bar for West Lafayette throwers". Journal & Courier. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  5. 1 2 "AAG 2019: Enekwechi produces another stunner". The Sun Nigeria. 16 August 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  6. "Big Ten Announces Men's Outdoor Track & Field Individual Honors". Big Ten Conference . Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  7. "Chukwuebuka Enekwechi Bio :: Purdue University :: Official Athletic Site". Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  8. "USATF - Events - 2011 USA Youth Outdoor Track & Field Championships". Archived from the original on 22 December 2019.
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