Checkout The Top 10 Nigerian Female Sports Gladiators

Females add glamour and spice to sports globally. In this report, ’TANA AIYEJINA takes a look at some Nigerian female athletes who have created waves on and off the sporting arena

ASISAT OSHOALA (FOOTBALL)
Oshoala
is the new face of women football in Nigeria nay Africa. The
21-year-old broke into global limelight in 2014, when she emerged Most
Valuable Player and top scorer at that year’s Women’s U-20 World Cup, as
Nigeria finished runners-up to Germany.
She again led the Super
Falcons to a record eighth African Women Championship in Nambia few
months later, winning the MVP award, as well ending in second place in
the top scorers chart behind compatriot Desire Oparanozie.
Her
success story continued, as she was crowned the African Women’s Player
of the Year for 2014, before sealing a high-profile move from Rivers
Angels to English side, Liverpool Ladies, last year. In 2015, Oshoala
was named the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year.




BLESSING OKAGBARE (ATHLETICS)
Okagbare
is no doubt Nigeria’s queen of the tracks. The African 100m record
holder has been Nigeria’s most consistent athlete since winning a bronze
medal in the women’s long jump event at the Beijing Olympics, eight
years ago, as a 19-year-old.
Even though the multi-talented
athlete has had her fair share of controversies with AFN officials and
the media, she remains the fans favourite and the hope of a medal for
the country at major global athletics championships.
Okagbare won
gold in the 100m and 200m at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games,
becoming the fourth woman ever to achieve the feat. Her 10.85secs effort
also saw her breaking Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie’s 12-year record of
10.91secs.
She’s married to ex-footballer, Igho Otegheri.




CHICHI IGBO (FOOTBALL)
Igbo
may not be a household name on the football pitch but off it,
especially on the social media, she is a big hit. The Fortuna Hjørring
of Denmark midfielder catches the eye with her muscular and masculine
physique, which she displays with glee on the social media.
Igbo’s
boyish look and penchant for men’s clothes has made some question her
sexuality but she insists she doesn’t have to dress like a girl, before
she is seen as feminine. And she has never hidden her views about
lesbianism — she once posted pictures of herself and her white
girlfriend cuddling on the social media, which generated a lot of
reactions.
Last year, Igbo, along with other gays took to the
streets of Europe to celebrate after same sex marriage was legalised in
the United States.
She posted on Facebook, “This is how my God
created me; I might work out every now and then but all you see didn’t
come from working out. I was created special and I love myself just the
way I am.”
The 29-year-old, who has featured in the UEFA Women’s
Champions League, represented Nigeria at the 2007 Women’s World Cup but
she said she had to quit the team due to poor treatment of players by
officials.
Last year, Igbo was featured alongside other female athletes in V Magazine, which had actress Scarlett Johansson on the cover.




MELISSA IFIDZHEN (TENNIS)
Promising
tennis sensation Ifidzhen is seen as the future of the game in Nigeria.
Born in Russia to a Nigerian father and Russian mother, the 17-year-old
made her Nigeria debut last year, when she paired Elizabeth Garos-Pam
to beat Algeria’s Saadia Belhadj and Sihem Sahli in the girls doubles of
the 38th ITF/CAT African Closed Junior Championship in Egypt.
The
right hander started playing tennis since she was five and previously
represented Russia, where she was the U-12 champion in 2010.
She
also won the European Championship in 2010 and was the champion in the
singles and doubles events of the Hitec Bouneweg Junior U-14 Open. In
2014, she reached the final of the singles event of the Governor’s Cup
U-16 event in Russia but she made up with a winners medal in the doubles
event.




FUNKE OSHONAIKE (TABLE TENNIS)
At
40, former African champion Oshonaike is still one of Nigeria’s best
most consistent athletes of all time. She began representing Nigeria at
14, before she moved to Italy in 1994, to play professionally. Oshonaike
has appeared at five Olympic Games, beginning from Atlanta ’96.
Now
resident in Germany, Oshonaike’s rise from the streets of Somolu,
Lagos, to global reckoning is truly meteoric. The third child in a
family of 10, she had to battle with poverty from a very young age, but
sports came to her rescue, and today, she is one of Africa’s most
decorated female table tennis players.
A trained cosmetologist, Oshonaike has a Diploma in Physical and Health Education from the University of Lagos.




KEHINDE OBAREH (BOXING)
African champion Obareh punched her way to a gold medal win in the Lightweight (57-60kg) division at last year’s AAG.
The
ever-smiling pugilist suffered a career-threatening wrist injury in
2014, during her defeat to former world champion India’s Sarita Devi.
But she has bounced back after surgery abroad to stake a claim as
Africa’s best in her category.
A Lance Corporal in the Nigerian
Army, the beautiful Obareh says being a boxer or military personnel has
not made her different from any other woman out there, but she admits
some men get nervous when they realise she’s a soldier cum boxer. And
her achievements alongside fellow soldiers Edith Agu-Ogoke and Caroline
Linus has helped spread the female boxing gospel across the country.




JOYCE EKWOROMADU (BASKETBALL)
Ekworomadu’s
parents are Nigerians but the basketball star was born in the United
States and immediately took to basketball like bees to honey, when she
first had a taste of the game at 10.
And it wasn’t long before she
made her mark as she emerged the Southland Conference Player of the
Year and Student Athlete of the Year in 2008.
Though born in the
US, the basketballer did not forget her Nigerian roots, thus her
decision to play for the D’Tigress even though she also stood a chance
of representing the US.
“I am the first generation American born in my family but I am 100 per cent Nigerian and love to embrace the culture,” she said.
She
was scouted in 2006/07 by then D’Tigress coach Kevin Cook, who then
organised trials in Houston. Ekworomadu made the squad for the 2007 All
Africa Games and since then, she’s been an integral member of the side.
On
the courts, she’s been inspirational with the national team and is seen
by her teammatesas a leader and role model. Off it, Sweet J, as
Ekworomadu is fondly called, uses basketball to inspire young girls all
over the world to become what they want to be.




LOVELINE OBIJI (SPECIAL SPORTS)
If
there’s anything Obiji is good at, surely it’s breaking and setting new
world records. The 25-year-old set a new world record in the women’s
heavyweight category (from 61.1kg) at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth
Games, when she erased Egypt’s Randa Mahmoud’s previous effort of 143kg
with a lift of 144kg.
At last year’s AAG, the London 2012
Paralympic gold medalist set another world record in the 86kg women’s
powerlifting event with a lift of 149kg.




CYNTHIA UWAK (FOOTBALL)
Former
Super Falcons striker and two-time African Women’s Player of the Year,
Uwak, was a feared striker while featuring for the women’s national
team. However, she has made the news in recent years off the pitch due
to her boyish looks.
The 2007 Women’s World Cup star recently took to Instagram to post a topless photo of herself after doubts of her true gender by some.
The 29-year-old striker, who currently plays for Aland in Finland, admitted in an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH
that she was once “a tomboy climbing trees and playing with boys.” But
she maintains that it shouldn’t be a reason to label her a man or a
lesbian.




LAURITTA ONYE (SPECIAL SPORTS)
Nollywood
actress Lauritta Onye is the country’s most successful dwarf athlete.
She had carved a niche for herself in Nollywood, featuring in prominent
roles in films like Lords of Money, before becoming an athlete in 2007.
The
fair-skinned lady, who competes in discuss and shot put, won her first
international medal—silver— at the 2011 All Africa Games. Last October,
she won gold (Nigeria’s only medal) at the 7th IPC Athletics World
Championships.
The Imo State-born athlete, who is popularly known
as Laury White in Nollywood, was among athletes rewarded by President
Muhammadu Buhari last month.
PUNCH