She was born on February 3, 1968 as a Nigerian spinster who won the bronze medal in 4x100 meters relay in women's athletics. she is from Anambra State. she won the bronze medal at the 1992 summer Olympic and in 200 meters at the 1996 summer Olympics she also won the 1994 commonwealth games. she was the former African queen of the track from the grass root.
She performed especially well in the all African Games, winning a total of 7 individual medal in the short sprints. she won 100 meters in 1991, 1995 and 2003 and took a bronze medal in 1987. gold medal in 200 meters were taken in 1987, 1995 and 2003.
Mary Onyeali she took the name Omagbemi when marring Victor Omagbemi. she is very inspirational for many people.
her conservative Olympic appearance from 1988 to 2004 made her the first Nigerian to compete at five Olympics. this feat was equaled by table tennis players.
Mary Onyeali has truly made a name for herself in the track and field world. establishing several prestigious marks on the way. popularly called the queen of Nigerian sprints. her father passed away when she was a young child and her mother was left to raise her and younger siblings, a sister and two brothers. As the oldest of four children much of the responsibility of child raising fell strongly upon Mary. Her mother constantly emphasized the importance of their education and to her everything else was just extracurricular. The social norm for a female in Nigeria was everything but being an athlete. a woman was to go to school and eventually work and focus on marriage and raising a family. Mary was all but interested in this philosophy. she did not want to succumb to the pressure of marrying and having children. her traits of self win and stubbornness found her going against the social norm. getting involved in the sports of track and field was mere coincidence for Mary.
Mary started her athlete activities right from elementary school to higher school where she became the captain in some of the sports activities.
She represented Nigeria in various countries like Ghana, Cairo -Egypt, Athens, Greece etc and she was not left out of winning during these period. she also had a coach in the person of Mr. Tobids Igwe who was the founder mentalist of her career.
Mary did not stop her education career at the secondary school level, she further her studies at Texas Southern University in 1985 and graduated in 1990. presently she is one of the ten Ministerial nominee by the president Johnathan's administration.
challenges
- she was denied scholarship for further studies.
- she went through foot surgery in December 1991
- she hate to be dared and vowed not to listen to negative advice
- the big challenge was the emotional well-being. missing her baby and wondering if everything was alright back at home.
No comments:
Post a Comment