Bella Bell-Gam

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Bella Bell-Gam (born August 24, 1956 in Opobo Town, Rivers State , Nigeria ) is a Nigerian pentathlon fighter , long jumper and hurdler . She became African champion in the disciplines heptathlon and long jump.

Life

Bell-Gam was born in Opobo Town, Rivers State, and has a twin sister, Judy, who was also an athlete. Both sisters attended the Government Primary School in Afikpo , the Methodist School, Uwani , Enugu, and the Union Secondary School, Ikot Ekpene . The girls were in Enugu when the civil war broke out and were moving south to Nnewi . At the end of the war, Bell-Gam returned to school in Ikot Ekpene. In 1973 she represented her school in high jump at the Hussey Shield and Lady Manuwa competitions. At the 2nd National Sports Festival in 1975 she switched to hurdles and won gold in her competition. After secondary education, she attended Calabar College of Technology and represented the school at the NIPOGA games, where she participated in the hurdles, high and long jump competitions. At the 3rd National Sports Festival, she decided on the high and long jump. From there she was selected to represent the country at the Ecowas Games and later at the Africa Games.

Bella Bell-Gam won the bronze medal in the 100m hurdles at the 1978 African Games in Algiers in a time of 13.99 seconds, after the Kenyan Ruth Kyalisima and her twin sister Judy Bell-Gam . She received a bronze medal for a distance of 6.12 meters in the long jump and was the winner in the pentathlon with 3809 points. At the African Athletics Championships in Dakar in 1979 , she ran in the hurdles 14.36 s after her sister and in front of the Moroccan Fatima El Faquir and received the silver medal. In the long jump she came 6.24 m, which brought her the gold medal. She finished the pentathlon with 3607 points, which rewarded her with a wide gold medal. Then at the Athletics World Cup in Montreal in 1979 , she took part in the long jump and jumped 5.73 meters and was 8th in the overall standings.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ IAAF (Ed.): 1st IAAF / VTB Bank Continental Cup - IAAF Statistics Hanbook - Split 2010 . 2010, p.  183 .
  2. ↑ Supo Ibikunle: Queens of the tracks . Ed .: Daily Times. Lagos September 1978.
  3. ^ African Championships. In: gbrathletics.com. Retrieved January 19, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Track and Field Statistics. In: brinkster.net. trackfield.brinkster.net, accessed January 19, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Bell-Gam, Bella
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Nigerian pentathlete, long jumper and hurdler
DATE OF BIRTH August 24, 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH Opobo Town, Rivers State , Nigeria