Maria Usifo (born 1 August 1964) is Nigerian athlete and former Olympian who represented Nigeria at Los Angeles (1984) and Seoul (1988) Olympic Games. [1] She specialized in the 100 and 400 metres hurdles. [2] She is one of the female athletes in Nigerian sports history who dominated athletic events both at national and international levels. [3]
Usifo started her career in sports in Nigeria in the 1970s when the school sports system was functional. She was a former hurdler and quarter-miler whose athletic opened opportunities for her to choose from 10 foreign universities after her outstanding performance at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia in 1982. She participated in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984 and Seoul in 1988. [4] Usifo was All-Africa Games Gold medallist and African Championships Gold medallist. [5]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Nigeria | |||||
| 1987 | All-Africa Games | Nairobi, Kenya | 1st | 100 m hurdles | 13.29 |
| 1st | 400 m hurdles | 55.72 | |||
Sally Jane Janet Gunnell is a British former track-and-field athlete, active between 1984 and 1997, who won the 1992 Olympic gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles. During a golden 24-month period between 1992 and 1994, Gunnell won every international event open to her, claiming Olympic Games, World Championship, European Championship, Commonwealth Games, Goodwill Games, IAAF World Cup and European Cup golds in the event, and breaking the British, European and World records in it. She is the only female British athlete to have won all four 'majors'; Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth titles, and was the first female 400 metres hurdler in history to win the Olympic and World titles and break the world record. Her former world record time of 52.74 secs in 1993, still ranks in the world all-time top ten and is the current British record. She was named World and European Female Athlete of the Year in 1993, and was made an MBE in 1993 and an OBE in 1998.
Valerie Ann Brisco-Hooks is an Olympian who won three gold medals as an Olympic track and field athlete at the 1984 Olympics at Los Angeles, California, making her the first Olympian to win gold medals in both the 200- and 400-meter races at a single Olympics.
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Nkemdilim “Mary” Onyali-Omagbemi is a Nigerian former sprinter, she was a 5x Olympian 1988 - 2004. She had won the bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 1992 Olympic Games and in the 200 m at the 1996 Olympic Games. She also won the 1994 Commonwealth Games 100 metres title.
Kezie Uchechukwu Duru Akabusi, MBE, known as Kriss Akabusi, is a British broadcaster & former sprint and hurdling track and field athlete.
Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil Usha is a retired Indian track and field athlete. She was born in Koothali near Perambra in Kozhikode district,Kerala.She grew up in Payyoli. She has been associated with Indian athletics since 1979. She has won 4 Asian gold medals and 7 Silver medals. She is often associated as the "Queen of Indian track and field". On 6 July 2022, she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by former President Ram Nath Kovind. In December 2022, Usha has been elected president of the Indian Olympic Association unopposed. In Dec 2022, PT Usha has been appointed to the panel of Rajyasabha vice chairman to control the proceedings of the upper house during the absence of both Chairman and Deputy Chairman.She is the first nominated MP in history to become the Vice Chairperson of Rajyasabha
Taiwo Aladefa is a retired Nigerian 100 m hurdler. She attended Alabama A&M university from 1989 until 1993. She is the school record holder in 100M hurdles (13.19sec) and was a 16 time NCAA All American athlete. Aladefa was a member of the first historically black college to ever win any NCAA track and field competition (1992). She competed in the women's 100 metres hurdles at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Ene Francisca “Franca” Idoko-Isaac is a Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres. Her personal best time over 100 m is 11.14 seconds, achieved in July 2008 in Abuja. Her personal best time over 60 m is 7.09 seconds, achieved in February 2008 in Chemnitz. Thus, Ene was known as Olympic Games Silver medallist, African Championships Silver medallist and Olympic Games finalist.
Muizat Ajoke Odumosu Alademerin is a Nigerian track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres and the 400 metres hurdles. She represented Nigeria at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics and competed at the World Championships in Athletics in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. She was the bronze medallist at the 2007 All-Africa Games and went on to become the continental champion with a win at the 2008 and 2012 African Championships.
María Princesa Oliveros Bohórquez is a Colombian track and field athlete who competes in the 100 metres hurdles and 400 metres hurdles events. Her personal bests are 13.41 seconds and 56.26 seconds, respectively. She was the gold medallist in the 400 m hurdles at the 2011 Pan American Games, at which she also won a 4×400 metres relay bronze medal in a Colombian record time.
Andrew Parker is a Jamaican track and field athlete who competed in the 110 metres hurdles. He won the event at the 1987 Pan American Games and represented Jamaica at the 1988 Summer Olympics as well as the 1987 World Championships in Athletics.
Cristian Amaechi Cuevas Morton is an American-born track and field 400-meter hurdler who competes for Nigeria. He was the 2012 400 m hurdles gold medallist at the NCAA Championships and the African Championships. He has a personal record of 48.79 seconds for the event.
The 2013 African Youth Athletics Championships were the first edition of the biennial athletics competition for African athletes aged fifteen to seventeen. It was held in Warri, Nigeria, on 28–31 March. A total of 40 events were originally scheduled but only 36 went ahead, 17 for boys and 19 for girls.
Janieve Russell is a Jamaican track and field athlete who competes mainly in the 400 metres hurdles and the 400 metres sprint. She won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 × 400 m relay in Tokyo 2021, where she also finished fourth in the 400m hurdles final in a personal best of 53.08 secs. She is a four-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, winning the 400m hurdles title in 2018 and 2022, and the 4 × 400 m relay in 2014 and 2018. She has also won two relay silvers at the World Championships and a relay gold at the World Indoor Championships.
Oluwatobiloba Ayomide "Tobi" Amusan is a Nigerian track and field athlete who specialises in the 100 metres hurdles and also competes as a sprinter. Amusan is the current world record holder in the 100 metres hurdles with a time of 12.12 seconds which she set at the 2022 women's 100 metres hurdles semi final in Eugene Oregon. She is the current Commonwealth and African champion in the 100 m hurdles, as well as the meet record holder in those two competitions. Amusan became the first ever Nigerian world champion and world record holder in an athletics event when she won the 2022 World Championships 100 m hurdles gold medal, setting the current world record of 12.12 seconds (+0.9m/s) in the semi-final, followed up by a 12.06 seconds (+2.5m/s) in the final. She won back-to-back Commonwealth and African titles in 2018 and 2022 in the 100 m hurdles and is also a two-time African Games champion in the event. She is also the current Diamond league champion in the 100 metres hurdles having won the final in 12.33 seconds (+1.8m/s) achieving a winning streak in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Salwa Eid Naser is a Nigerian-born Bahraini sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. She was the 2019 World champion with the third fastest time in history of 48.14 seconds, becoming the youngest-ever champion in the event and also the first woman representing an Asian nation to win that event at a World Championships. The mark places her only behind contested results of Marita Koch and Jarmila Kratochvílová. Over the distance, at only 19, Naser was the 2017 World silver medallist. She has also won, as a member of Bahraini mixed-gender 4x400 m relay team, the 2019 World Championships bronze medal.
Saidat Onanuga is a Nigerian former track and field sprinter who specialised in the 400 metres. She also competed in the 400 metres hurdles. She represented Nigeria at the World Championships in Athletics in 1997, competing as a relay alternate.
Judy Bell-Gam is a Nigerian former track and field athlete. She won the 100 metres hurdles for Nigeria at the first African Championships in Dakar in 1979 and also was Nigeria's first winner in that event at the 1978 All-Africa Games.
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