Chika Chukwumerije

Chika Chukwumerije
Personal information
Surname:	Chika Yagazie Chukwumerije
Nationality:	Nigeria
Birthday:	December 30, 1983
Size:	190 cm

Chika Yagazie Chukwumerije (born December 30, 1983 ) is a Nigerian Taekwondoin who starts in the heavyweight division.

Chukwumerije qualified at the African qualification tournament in Cairo for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens , where he played his first international competition, but retired in his opening match against Pascal Gentil and finished eleventh in the final ranking. The following year he took part in the Universiade in Izmir , but missed the jump to the semi-finals. In 2007 he won gold in the heavyweight division at the Africa Games in Algiers . Chukwumerije celebrated the greatest sporting success of his career so far at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing . With two opening wins in the over 80 kilogram class, he made it to the semifinals, where he lost to Alexandros Nikolaidis , but defeated Akmal Ergashev in the battle for third place and won the bronze medal. It was the first Nigerian Olympic medal in Taekwondo. His first world championship played Chukwumerije 2011 in Gyeongju , but he was eliminated early. At the 2012 African Olympic qualification tournament in Cairo, he was able to reach the final against Anthony Obame in the over 80 kilogram class and qualify for his third 2012 Olympic Games in London .

His father Uche Chukwumerije is a former Nigerian politician and minister.

Web links

• Chika Chukwumerije in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
• Chika Chukwumerije on the TaekwondoData .com website