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Kemi Adekoya

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Kemi Adekoya

Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Bahrain
World Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Portland 400 m
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2014 Incheon 400 m
Gold medal – first place 2014 Incheon 400 m hurdles

Oluwakemi Adekoya (born 16 January 1993) is a Nigerian-born track and field athlete who competes for Bahrain. She specialises in the 400 metres hurdles and has a personal best of 54.59 seconds – a Bahraini record.

She established herself as a hurdler at national level in Nigeria in 2011, placing fifth at the Nigerian championships. In 2012 she improved her best to 57.16 seconds to place second at the Confederation of African Athletics meet in Warri. That year she was runner-up at the Nigerian Olympic trials, but did not have the sufficient qualifying standard.[1] She was selected for the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics but did not compete. In 2013 she set a new personal best of 55.30 seconds, finishing runner-up to Muizat Ajoke Odumosu, Nigeria's leading hurdler, and also set a flat 400 metres best of 52.57 seconds.[2] Her hurdles best ranked her within the top thirty fastest athletes in the world that year.[3]

Adekoya's first race of 2014 marked a significant change for her career. Making her debut on the Diamond League circuit, she defeated the entire elite 400 m hurdles field in a surprise win.[4] Her time of 54.59 seconds was a world-leading one, and also a Bahraini national record – she had switched nationality to the oil-rich state at the start of the year and displayed a banner saying "I ♥ Bahrain" after her victory. This move was unknown to Solomon Ogba, the head of Athletics Federation of Nigeria, who was present at the race in Doha and lodged a complaint with the International Association of Athletics Federations, claiming her move as out-of-process.[1] However, as Adekoya had never formally registered with the national federation, the country could not block the move.[5] Nigerian officials and media noted the case as an example of African nations losing their top home-grown athletes to richer non-African nations (Nigerian sprinters Samuel Francis and Femi Ogunode both moved to Qatar).[1][5][6]

In her second Diamond League race she was a close second to Kaliese Spencer at the Bislett Games,[7] then took third place at the Golden Spike Ostrava meeting.[2]

On Saturday, 13th August, 2016 on Day 9 of the Rio 2016 Olympics games in Brazil, Kemi ran an all time personal best of 50.72 to come out second behind America's Phyllis Francis who ran at 50.58 seconds there by qualifying for the semifinal 3.[1]

Personal bests

References

  1. ^ a b c Omogbeja, Yomi (2014-05-16). The curious case of Kemi Adekoya in Bahraini colours. Athletics Africa. Retrieved on 2014-06-20.
  2. ^ a b Kemi Adekoya. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2014-06-20.
  3. ^ 400 Metres Hurdles - women - senior - outdoor - 2013. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-06-20.
  4. ^ Rowbottom, Mike (2014-05-09). Ukhov back on top again in Doha – IAAF Diamond League. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-06-20.
  5. ^ a b Efe, Ben (2014-06-07). Kemi Adekoya: A loss to Nigerian athletics. Vanguard Nigeria. Retrieved on 2014-06-20.
  6. ^ Adekoya: Shadows of a sad Story in Nigerian Athletics. Sports With Enee (2014-05-10). Retrieved on 2014-06-20.
  7. ^ Souleiman and Alamirew among winners as Judd runs PB in Oslo. Athletics Weekly (2014-06-11). Retrieved on 2014-06-20.

8.^https://www.rio2016.com/en/athletics-womens-400m-round-1-heat-3

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