Francis Obikwelu

Francis Obikwelu
Francis Obikwelu at the European Indoor Championships 2011 in Paris
Full name	Francis Obiorah Obikwelu
nation	Portugal
birthday	22nd November 1978 (age 41)
place of birth	Onitsha ,  Nigeria
size	195 cm
Weight	79 kg
Career
discipline	sprint
status	resigned
Medal table
Olympic games silver 2004 Athens 100 m  World championships silver 1997 Athens 4 × 100 m bronze 1999 Seville 200 m  Indoor world championships bronze 1997 Paris 200 m  Junior World Championships gold 1996 Sydney 100 m gold 1996 Sydney 200 m  Africa Games gold 1999 Johannesburg 200 m silver 1999 Johannesburg 100 m  European championships gold 2002 Munich 100 m silver 2002 Munich 200 m gold 2006 Gothenburg 100 m gold 2006 Gothenburg 200 m  European Indoor Championships gold 2011 Paris 60 m Jogos da Lusofonia gold 2009 Lisbon 100 m silver 2009 Lisbon 4 × 100 m
last change: August 5, 2012

Francis Obiorah Obikwelu (born November 22, 1978 in Onitsha ) is a former Portuguese sprinter of Nigerian origin who has won numerous titles in his career and participated in the Olympic Games . With a height of 1.95 m, he has a competition weight of 79 kg and is currently starting for Sporting Lisbon . Both his sporting successes and his life story and character have made him extremely popular and popular in Portugal. His nickname is Chico , the short form of the Portuguese form of his first name.

For Nigeria

At the age of 14, one of his soccer coaches made him aware of his sprinting talent and advised him to devote himself to athletics . Just two years later, in 1994, Obikwelu represented his home country at the African Youth Championships and finished second over 400 meters . In the same year he went to the Portuguese capital of Lisbon for the Junior Athletics World Championships and stayed there after the competition. After the two big local sports clubs Benfica and Sporting did not accept him, he initially hired himself as a construction worker in the Algarve . Obikwelu decided to learn Portuguese and his teacher put him in contact with Belenenses Lisbon . Around the same time, a Portuguese woman adopted him.

Although the sprinter took part in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta , it was not until 1997 that he was able to celebrate major successes on the international stage. At the 1997 World Championships in Athens he won the silver medal over 4 × 100 meters with the Nigerian relay team and two years later he came third in the individual competition over 200 meters in Seville . Over the same distance, he also won the 1999 Pan-African Games in Johannesburg .

For Portugal

In July 2000, Obikwelus teammate Mercy Nku , who was also stationed in Lisbon, announced that he was planning to compete for Portugal in the future. He justified this decision with neglect by Nigerian officials during an injury. He would have had to pay for the necessary knee surgery in Canada himself. In October 2001, Francis Obikwelu became a Portuguese citizen .

In the following years he established himself among the best in the world and achieved numerous victories. At the 2002 European Championships in Munich, for example, he came second over 100 and 200 meters, and four years later he was later awarded the European Championship title. At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens , he was considered a secret favorite over the short distance and actually secured the silver medal in the European record time of 9.86 s. The 2005 season, however, was less successful; he was never able to build on his top performance from the previous year and was only fourth at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki . At the European Championships in Gothenburg in 2006 , Obikwelu went better again and won gold over 200 meters in 20.01 s. Although this time is the Portuguese national record, it is not a personal best, as it had already run 19.84 s in 1999. In addition, he also won the 100 meters in 9.99 seconds, making him the first athlete to break the ten-second mark at European Championships .

Five years later he surprisingly won with a new personal best and a new national record at the European Indoor Championships 2011 in Paris over 60 meters and relegated the favored Dwain Chambers and Christophe Lemaitre to the places. At the age of 32, he became the oldest winner of this discipline at European Indoor Championships.

doping

The gold medal for the 100-meter run at the European Championships in 2002 was awarded to Obikwelu only four years later, because the original winner Dwain Chambers had been convicted of doping.

The result of the final run over 100 meters at the 2004 Olympic Games could change as the winner Justin Gatlin missed a doping test in 2006 and it is now suspected that he may have been doped during the Olympic Games in Athens. The likelihood of this and a subsequent medal handover to Obikwelu are low, as they would also require Gatlin's confession. Francis Obikwelu has already made it clear that he does not want to win his medals in the office.

Personal best

distance	time in seconds	place	date
50 m	5.79	Liévin	February 28, 2004
60 m	6.53	Paris	March 6, 2011
100 m	9.86	Athens	August 22, 2004
200 m	19.84	Seville	August 25, 1999
400 m	46.29	?	June 3, 1998

International records

European records (1)
100 m	9.86 s	August 22, 2004	Athens
(As of August 29, 2012)

Web links

Commons : Francis Obikwelu  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Francis Obikwelu in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Francis Obikwelu in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )