Fast-rising shot putter, Chukwuebuka Cornnell Enekwechi gave Nigerian something to look up to once against the ongoing Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, as he qualified for the final of his event.
On a day Nigerians celebrated bronze for Ese Brume in the women’s long jump and silver for female wrestler, Blessing Oborududu, Enekwechi became the next to look up to for another medal in Tokyo.
Megasportsarena.com reports that such it was that Enekwechi fared well alongside Egypt’s Mostafa Amr Ahmed, who qualified automatically for Thursday’s final with throw of 21.23m
Enekwechi and Kyle Blignaut of South Africa both finished in the top 12 in the qualification round to progress to the final, but Egypt’s Mohamed Magdi Hamza and South Africa’s Jason Van Rooyen failed to advance.
The 28-year-old Enekwechi made it to the final of the men’s Shot Put event after he launched his implement to a mark of 21.16m on Tuesday afternoon, with a mark that was enough to place him fourth in the race and hand him one of the non-automatic qualifying spots into the final.
The 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medalist, 2019 African Games champion, winner of the same event at the recent National Sports Festival and 2012 USATF Youth Champion will now aim for gold in a battle of wits in the men’s final billed for Thursday.
He will compete alongside Mesud Pezer of Bosnia, Zane Weir of Italy, Kyle Blingnaut of South Africa, Jacko Gill and Tomas Walsh of New Zealand, Darlan Romani of Brazil, Mostafa Hassan of Egypt, Armin Sinancevic of Serbia and Peyton Otterdahl of United States.
That completed a great Tuesday tor Team Nigeria in the Japanese capital, as Brume had opened the medal bag with a bronze after finishing third in the women’s long jump and Oborududu won silver in the women’s 68kg wrestling.
Born January 28, 1993, in Queens, New York, USA, Enekwechi’s parents, Christian and Christiana, are from Anambra and Imo States respectively, from which he has three siblings and he also works as a throws coach for West Lafayette High School.
He was versatile in throw events while competing for Purdue University, as he competed in the shot put, discus, hammer and weight events, with which 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 Hammer Throw and Field Athlete of The Year in 2015, following which he threw over 20m in the shot put for the first time in 2016 and won his first national title at the 2016 Nigerian Championships in Sapele with a distance of 19.60 m.
He chased after the Olympic qualification shot put mark of 20.50m but only managed a best of 20.45 that year, but that story changed in 2017, when he first represented Nigeria, but he did not making it out of the qualifying round at the World Championship in London.
He also represented Nigeria at the 2018 World Indoor Championships and then began his 2019 outdoor season with a shot put personal best of 21.28 m at the Taylor George Glass Invitational.
That 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 21.77m to win the event and bettered the previous mark of 21.76m held by Stephen Mozia.
