Ojokolo makes African Athletics Championships history again with women’s 4x100m gold
Endurance ‘the Bulldozer’ Ojokolo has made history again after leading the Nigerian women’s 4x100m relay team to gold at the 23rd African Athletics Championships in Douala, Cameroon.
The 49 year old has thus become the first Nigerian female sprinter to win a 4x100m relay gold as an athlete and a coach.
Ojokolo had earlier made history as the first Nigerian female 100m champion to lead a team to the African Championships as a coach.
She won the 100m gold as an athlete in 2002 and 2004, becoming the second Nigerian nay African woman after Mary Onyali (1988 and 1989) to successfully defend an African Championships 100m title.
In 2004, the year she successfully defended her 100m crown, Ojokolo anchored the 4x100m relay quartet that also included Gloria Kemasuode, Mercy Nku and
Oludamola Osayomi to gold in 44.32.
The seven time Nigeria 100m queen had hoped to win the 100m and 4x100m double in 2002 but the relay team didn’t get the baton exchange right and thus failed to finish the race. The team also had Pauline Ibeagha, Edem Emen and Joan Uduak Ekah.
Ojokolo was also in the 4x100m relay team to the 2006 African Championships in Bambous, Mauritius but could not anchor the team past the Ghananian Ladies who ran 44.43 to win ahead of Nigeria (44.52) and Cameroon (46.43).
The ‘Bulldozer’ however returned two years later to lead the team to gold (43.79) in Adis Ababa, Ethiopia. She ran the first leg for the quartet anchored to victory by Oludamola Osayomi.
