 |
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 30 November 1961 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Innocent Ejima Egbunike (born 30 November 1961) is a former sprinter from Nigeria.
He studied at Azusa Pacific University, where he still holds the school record at 400 metres [1] and the automatically timed NAIA meet record at 200 metres. [2]
At the 1983 Summer Universiade he won the 200 metres. At the regional level he won the 1987 All-Africa Games as well as three gold medals at the African Championships.
He won an Olympic bronze medal in 4 x 400 metres relay in Los Angeles 1984. He finished sixth in the final of the individual 400 metres contest. Four years later in Seoul he placed fifth. In addition he won a silver medal in the 400 metres at the 1987 World Championships.
He also won the gold medal in the 200 metres at the 1983 Summer Universiade with a personal best of 20.42 seconds; he followed this by finishing 6th in a world class field in the 200 metre final at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki.
He also won the Soviet 100 metres in 1983.
After retiring from competition he became a coach. He was coach of the Nigerian track and field team at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics, and head coach at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He was coach of Angelo Taylor, the gold medalist in the 400m hurdles at the 2008 Summer Olympics, coach of Chris Brown, the fourth-place finisher in the 400m at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Egbunike is currently the head coach of Pasadena City College's track and field team.
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Nigeria | |||||
| 1984 | African Championships | Rabat, Morocco | 1st | 200 m | 20.66 |
| 1987 | All-Africa Games | Nairobi, Kenya | 1st | 400 m | 44.23 |
Egbunike is good friends with former Kansas City Chiefs' running back Christian Okoye and met him when they were both training for Nigeria's national track and field team. While at Asuza Pacific, he told coaches about Okoye's ability in the discus and they decided to offer Okoye a scholarship for track and field. [3]
James Stephen Baulch is a retired Welsh sprint athlete and television presenter. He won the 400 metres gold medal at the 1999 World Indoor Championships. As a member of British 4 × 400 metres relay teams, he won a gold medal at the 1997 World Championships, and silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. He represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games where he won an individual silver and a bronze medal in the 4 × 400 m relay.
Jeremy Matthew Wariner is a retired American track athlete specializing in the 400 meters. He has won four Olympic medals and six World Championships medals. He is the fourth fastest competitor in the history of the 400 m event with a personal best of 43.45 seconds, behind Wayde van Niekerk, Michael Johnson and Butch Reynolds and the fifth fastest all-time mark when he set it in 2007.
Christian Emeka Okoye is a Nigerian–American former American football fullback for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1987 to 1992. Nicknamed "the Nigerian Nightmare", he was known for his powerful running style and ability to break tackles. His six-season NFL career produced an NFL rushing champion title in 1989, first-team All-Pro honors in 1989, second-team All-Pro honors in 1991, two Pro Bowl appearances in 1989 and 1991, and three playoff appearances. He ended his NFL career due to multiple injuries. He was inducted into the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame in 2000. He is also notable for not having ever played football until the age of 23, but later leading the NFL in rushing at age 28.
Kathryn Jane Cook is a former elite athlete, specialising in sprint and sprint relays. She is one of the most successful female sprinters in British athletics history. She is three-times an Olympic bronze medallist, including at 400 metres in Los Angeles 1984. Her other individual achievements include winning the 200m at the 1981 Universiade, finishing second in the 100m at the 1981 World Cup, and winning a bronze medal in the 200m at the 1983 World Championships. She is also three-times a winner of the British Athletics Writers' Association Female Athlete of the Year Award (1980–82).
Sunday Bada was a Nigerian sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres event. He won three medals at the World Indoor Championships, including a gold medal in 1997. His personal best time was 44.63 seconds, and with 45.51 seconds indoor he holds the African indoor record. He set a national record in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2000 Olympics, where the Nigerian team also won gold medals after the disqualification of the US team who had finished first.
Gabriel Tiacoh was a sprinter from Côte d'Ivoire who specialised in the 400 metres. He is best known for winning his nation's first Olympic medal, in the 400 meters in 1984.
Olga Vladimirovna Nazarova is a Russian former track and field athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. She represented the Soviet Union. She won two Olympic gold medals in the 4 × 400 metres relay, in 1988 and 1992. Her 1988 split time of 47.8, remains one of the fastest relay splits of all-time. She also won World Championship gold (1991) and silver (1987) in the relay, and a 1988 Olympic bronze medal in the 400 metres.
Vera Ivanovna Popkova was a Soviet track and field athlete who competed in the sprints. She had personal bests of 11.3 seconds for the 100 metres and 23.0 seconds for the 200 metres. Over her career, she won eight individual national titles in the sprints.
Ricardo Prado is an Olympic and former World Record holding medley swimmer from Brazil. He was one of the greatest swimmers in the history of Brazil and the best Brazilian swimmer in the 1980s.
The 4 × 400 metres relay races at the 1984 Summer Olympics was contested as part of the athletics program.
David Neville is an American sprinter who specializes in the 400 meters and two-time medalist in the Summer Olympics. A native of Merrillville, Indiana, Neville became the first individual track and field medalist out of Indiana University since Willie May won silver in the 110-meter hurdles in 1960.
David Kitur is a retired Kenyan runner, who specialised in 400 metres.
Anna Vasylivna Ryzhykova, nee Yaroshchuk is a Ukrainian track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles. At the European Athletics Championships, she won silver medals in 2012 and 2018, and bronze in 2022. Ryzhykova placed fifth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Anderson Freitas Henriques is a Brazilian sprinter.
Tony McQuay is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters. He is a member of the 2012 and 2016 United States Olympic teams, winning a silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay in 2012 and a gold in the same event in 2016. He is also a two time World Champion in this event.
Regina George Grause is an American-born Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres. She represented Nigeria at the 2012 Summer Olympics and was the silver medallist at the African Championships in 2012.
Carline Muir is a Canadian sprinter, who specialized in the 400 metres. She won the bronze medal for the 400 metres, and ultimately, led her national team to claim the sprint relay title at the 2009 Summer Universiade in Belgrade, Serbia. She is also a three-time junior national champion, a two-time silver medalist at the Canadian Track and Field Championships.
Wayde van Niekerk is a South African track and field sprinter who competes in the 200 and 400 metres. In the 400 metres, he is the current world and Olympic record holder, having set the record in the Olympic finals. He also holds the world-best time in the 300 metres.
Randy Jenelle Givens is an American former track and field athlete who competed in sprinting events. She set personal bests of 11.06 seconds for the 100-meter dash and 22.31 seconds for the 200-meter dash. Givens was a 200 m finalist at the 1984 Olympic Games and represented her country at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics. She was the 200 m gold medalist at the 1983 Pan American Games and returned to win a silver medal at the 1987 edition.
Omotayo Akinremi is a Nigerian former sprinter and hurdler. She competed in local and international competitions in athletics representing Nigeria. She won gold medals at the 1992 and 1993 African Championships in Athletics at 400 metres hurdles, she also won bronze medal at the 1990 event, and during the 1991 All-Africa Games she won bronze medals in the 400m hurdles. Emily also won the 200 metres at the 2000 Oceania Athletics Championships. Furthermore, she participated in the Nigerian 4 × 400 m relay team that won bronze medals at the 1993 Summer Universiade with Olabisi Afolabi, Omolade Akinremi and Onyinye Chikezie.
