Nigerian athlete who switched nationality becomes first American to win hammer throw medal
After experiencing a heartbreak in the lead-up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Annette Nneka Echikunwoke switched her nationality and allegiance from Nigeria to the USA. She accused the Nigerian Federation of negligence.
Annette, along with nine other Nigerian athletes, was ruled out of participating in Tokyo by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) after it was discovered that the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) failed to conduct mandatory tests.
Now, Echikunwoke has become the first representative of the USA to win a medal in the hammer throw event.
She secured the silver medal with a throw of 75.48m, just behind Canada's Camryn Rogers, who took gold with a throw of 76.97m.
In 2020, she complained about the AFN’s failure to conduct some tests on athletes leading to their disqualification.
“Because of the negligence of the AFN – not getting people tested knowing they are a category A federation – now people are ineligible to compete. And looking at who is affected, it’s mainly the overseas-based athletes, so all of us based in the USA, whether born in Nigeria or not. Officials have barely said anything, vague in giving any information about how things are being handled,” she said.
“I was told they talked to the AIU and World Athletics, but the case was denied. So, now we athletes who are affected are speaking out about this. That’s an absolute lie. Any time I was asked to disclose my whereabouts information, I gave it as soon as possible. I have the receipts. It’s the federation’s job to then set up testing once I give that information and they never did,” Echikunwoke further lamented.
The 28-year-old was born in America to Nigerian parents, and ahead of the last Olympics in Tokyo, she opted to represent the West African nation. She excelled as a Nigerian hammer thrower, setting both the national and continental records in the sport with her 75.49m throw.
