Chukwuebuka Enekwechi

Chukwuebuka Cornnell Enekwechi (born 28 January 1993) is a Nigerian-American track and field athlete, specializing in throwing events. He competes internationally for Nigeria. He is the 2018 Commonwealth Games Silver medallist and reigning African Champion in the shot put.[1] He is also the 2019 African Games Champion and the reigning Nigerian National Sports Festival Champion.

Chuk Enekwechi
Personal information
Full nameChukwuebuka Cornnell Enekwechi
Born (1993-01-28) 28 January 1993
Queens, New York, United States
EducationPurdue University
Sport
Country Nigeria
SportAthletics
SprintShot Put
College teamPurdue Boilermakers
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking8
Personal best(s)Output Shot Put 21.80 (Schifflange 2019)
Indoor Shot Put 21.20 (Iowa City 2023)
Hammer Throw 72.77 (East Lansing 2015)
Medal record
Men's Athletics
Representing  Nigeria
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place2018 Gold Coastshot put
African Championships
Gold medal – first place2018 Asabashot put
All-Africa Games
Gold medal – first place2019 Rabatshot put
Updated on 21 Sept 2019.

Personal

His parents, Christian and Christiana Enekwechi, are Nigerians from Anambra and Imo State, respectively. He has three siblings.[2] Enekwechi also works as a throws coach for West Lafayette High School.[3][4]

Career

While competing for Purdue University, he threw the shot put, discus, hammer and weight. 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 the Hammer Throw and also the Field athlete of the year in 2015.[5]

While at Francis Lewis High School, he won two city championships,[6] and was the 2012 USA Track & Field Youth Champion in the shot put.[7]

Post Collegiate

Enekwechi threw over twenty metres in the shot put for the first time in 2016. He won his first national title at the 2016 Nigerian Championships in Sapele with a distance of 19.60 m.[8] He chased after the Olympic qualification shot put mark of 20.50 m but only managed a best of 20.45 that year. It was in 2017 that he first represented Nigeria internationally. At the London World Championships, he did not make it out of the qualifying round.[9] He also represented Nigeria at the 2018 World Indoor Championships.

2018 was a breakthrough year for Enekwechi. At the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, he won a silver medal behind Tom Walsh with a throw of 21.14 m. At the time, this was a personal best for him. Enekwechi then went on to win the shot put title at the African championships in Asaba later in the year. His winning mark of 21.08 m is the African championships record. As the African champion, he was selected to represent Africa at the Ostrava Continental Cup. In December 2018, he won both the shot put and hammer throw at the 19th National Sports Festival in Abuja. He set a national sports festival record of 20.36 to win the shot put.[10][11]

He began his 2019 outdoor season with a shot put personal best of 21.28 m at the Taylor George Glass Invitational.[12][13] This 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 21.77 m to win the event.[14] This record bettered the previous record held by Stephen Mozia which was 21.76 m.[4][15] Enekwechi represented Nigeria at the 2019 All Africa Games. Going into the competition, he had bettered his national record with a throw of 21.80 m a little over a week before the games.[16] Showing impressive consistency, he won the event with a 21.48 m throw, which is also an African Games record.[17] This made him the third Nigerian man to win the event at the African Games. He will represent Nigeria at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.[18] Going into the championships, he was still ranked within the top ten in the world.

National Titles

Personal bests

Outdoor

Indoor

References
  1. "Obiri and Ta Lou dominate, Samaai defeats Manyonga at African Championships in Asaba". www.iaaf.org. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  2. "2015-16 Track & Field Roster - Chukwuebuka Enekwechi". Purdue University Athletics. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  3. "Former Purdue All-American raises bar for West Lafayette throwers". Journal & Courier. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  4. "AAG 2019: Enekwechi produces another stunner". The Sun Nigeria. 16 August 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  5. "Big Ten Announces Men's Outdoor Track & Field Individual Honors". bigten.org. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  6. "Chukwuebuka Enekwechi Bio :: Purdue University :: Official Athletic Site". Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  7. "USATF - Events - 2011 USA Youth Outdoor Track & Field Championships". Archived from the original on 22 December 2019.
  8. Olus, Yemi (9 July 2016). "Official Results of 2016 Nigerian Olympic Trials". MAKING OF CHAMPIONS. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  9. "Results, Shot Put Men - Qualification" (PDF). World Athletics. 5 August 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 September 2023.
  10. Ayodeji, Ayodeji (25 December 2018). "Top 5 Nigerian Athletes who came to limelight in 2018". Save Nigeria Sport. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  11. Ogeyingbo, Deji (27 December 2018). "Top 20 Nigerian Athletes in 2018 Part 4 (5 - 1)". MAKING OF CHAMPIONS. Archived from the original on 10 September 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  12. "2019 Taylor George Glass Invitational | MeetPro by DirectAthletics". crossroadstiming.com. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  13. "World Men's List — 2019". Track & Field News. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  14. "Results: 2019 Grande Premio Brasil De Atletismo". Watch Athletics. 28 April 2019. Archived from the original on 10 September 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  15. "Enekwechi sets new Nigerian Shot Put record in Bragança Paulista - IAAF World Challenge 2019". Enekwechi sets new Nigerian Shot Put record in Bragança Paulista - IAAF World Challenge 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  16. "Weekend Wrap: Enekwechi's huge throw erases NR, as Amusan impressively takes 3rd in Birmingham". Nigeria Athletics. 19 August 2019. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  17. Ogeyingbo, Deji (27 August 2019). "Team Nigeria Review – African Games Day 12 (Tuesday, August 27th)". MAKING OF CHAMPIONS. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  18. Maduewesi, Christopher (19 September 2019). "Okagbare, Oduduru & Amusan top Nigeria's entry list for 2019 World Champs". MAKING OF CHAMPIONS. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
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