Annette Nneka Echikunwoke, who previously represented Nigeria in hammer throw, has now won a silver medal at the Olympics for her birth country, the USA.
Pipped to gold by fellow North American, Canada’s Camryn Rogers who threw 76.97m, Echikunwoke made history, becoming the first athlete representing the USA to win a medal in the event (75.48m)
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. However, she switched allegiance back to the USA after a case of negligence by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).
After clinching qualification for the Tokyo Olympics with her record throw, Annette was set for her first Olympics outing, representing the birth country of her parents.
However, she was unable to compete at the games as an egregious case of negligence derailed her dreams. Annette and nine other Nigerian athletes were ruled out of participating in Tokyo by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) after it was discovered that the AFN failed to conduct mandatory tests.
The federation was expected to have conducted three out-of-competition tests for the athletes before the competition but failed to do so. A representative of the federation, who remained anonymous, told Punch that the Athletes failed to make themselves available.
A furious Echikunwoke immediately refuted the claims: “Because of the negligence of the AFN – not getting people tested knowing they are a category A federation – now people are ineligible to compete,” she said.
“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. 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.
