Uche Eke

Uche Devon Eke (born August 12, 1997)[1] is a Nigerian-American gymnast. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, he became Nigeria's first Olympic gymnast. He qualified for the Olympics by winning the bronze medal in the all-around at the 2021 African Championships. He is the 2019 African Games pommel horse champion and parallel bars bronze medalist.

Uche Eke
Full nameUche Devon Eke
Nickname(s)Uchemantellem
Born (1997-08-12) August 12, 1997
Gaithersburg, Maryland, US
HometownBrookeville, Maryland, US
ClubFairland Gymnastics
College teamMichigan (2016–20)
Head coach(es)Kurt Golder
Medal record
Men's artistic gymnastics
Representing  Nigeria
African Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Rabat Pommel horse
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Rabat Parallel bars
African Championships
Bronze medal – third place2021 CairoAll-around

Early life

Eke was born in Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States, on August 12, 1997, to an American mother and a Nigerian father.[2][3] He began gymnastics when he was four years old.[4] He graduated from Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in 2015.[5][6]

Career

Eke was recruited by the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines men's gymnastics team during the 2013–14 academic year.[6] He then joined the team in 2016. During his first three seasons, he competed on the pommel horse, the horizontal bar, and the parallel bars. He missed his senior season due to a shoulder injury and earned a redshirt year for the 2020 season.[5][7]

Eke represented Nigeria at the 2019 African Games where he won the gold medal on the pommel horse, becoming the first Nigerian gymnast to win gold at the African Games. He also won the bronze medal on the parallel bars.[3][8][9] At the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart, he competed on the pommel horse, parallel bars, and horizontal bar, but he did not advance into any event finals.[10]

Eke competed for Michigan on the pommel horse, vault, parallel bars, and horizontal bar during the 2020 season as a graduate student, but the end of the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. He was named to the Academic All-Big Ten team and was named a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar.[2][5][6]

Eke won the all-around bronze medal at the 2021 African Championships and qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games.[2][6] He then competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. He became the first gymnast to represent Nigeria at the Olympics.[11] He finished fifty-eighth in the all-around during the qualification round with a total score of 74.265 and did not advance into any finals.[12]

Education

In May 2019, Eke graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in computer science engineering.[6] He also holds a master's degree in information science from the University of Michigan.[13]

References
  1. "Uche Eke". Olympedia. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  2. Crumlish, John (June 22, 2021). "Nigeria's Uche Eke on historic Olympic berth: 'I trusted in my abilities'". International Gymnast Magazine. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  3. "Eke hopes to write history at African Championships". International Gymnastics Federation. May 21, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  4. Eluduni, Tunde (October 13, 2019). "INTERVIEW: How I became Nigeria's most successful Gymnast – Uche Eke". Premium Times. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  5. "Uche Eke". Michigan Wolverines. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  6. Lee, Edward (July 21, 2021). "'This is all I've really wanted': Maryland native Uche Eke will be first to represent Nigeria in Olympics in gymnastics". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  7. "Eke Uche". International Gymnastics Federation. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  8. Johnny, Edward (September 7, 2019). "The stars, the flops of African Games". The Punch. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  9. Eluduni, Tunde (August 29, 2019). "2019 African Games: Nigeria overtakes host Morocco on medals table". Premium Times. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  10. "49th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Stuttgart (GER), 4 October – 13 October 2019 Men's Qualifications" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. International Gymnastics Federation. October 6, 2019. pp. 9, 25, 31. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  11. Pigliucci, Cai (July 27, 2021). "Uche Eke becomes first gymnast to compete for Nigeria at the Olympics". CNN. Archived from the original on August 1, 2021.
  12. Eludini, Tunde (July 24, 2021). "Tokyo Olympics: Debutants Eke, Omotayo suffer early exit as Edem snags victory". Premium Times. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  13. Oyeleke, Sadik (July 22, 2021). "Uche Eke: Meet Nigeria's first Olympics gymnast". The Punch. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
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