Mary Onyali-Omagbemi

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Mary Onyali-Omagbemi (born Onyali ; born February 3, 1968 ) is a Nigerian sprinter . In 1992 she was third in the Olympic Games in the 4 x 100 meter relay and in 1996 in the 200 meter run .

Life

She has made a name for herself through her sporting successes in her homeland, where she is called the "Nigerian Queen of Sprints". She grew up in a family without a father who had left them, with her mother and three younger siblings, whom she had to look after during her youth when the mother went to work. She also attached great importance to a good education for Mary. She began to be interested in sports, mainly long and high jump , at school.

After transferring to high school , she expanded her sports interests. She didn't want to know anything about the social norms, an early marriage and family, because she really wanted to study. But since her family was unable to finance her studies, she decided to study in the USA on a sports scholarship. At the junior championships in Nigeria, she showed an acceptable performance, but failed twice in a row in international appearances. After her return, the sporting director of Lagos , her later father-in-law James Omagbemi , recognized her disposition and arranged for her to receive a scholarship from the University of Texas , where she studied from 1985 to 1990.

At the 200-meter run of the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul , she could not qualify for the finals despite a time of 22.52 s. It was not until 1989 that she was able to assert herself in international competitions and in 1991 she won the gold medal in the 100-meter run at the Pan-African Games .

At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona , she was unable to advance to the medal ranks over 100 and 200 meters, but won the bronze medal in the 4 x 100 meter relay together with her teammates Beatrice Utondu , Faith Idehen and Christy Opara-Thompson . At the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart she was fifth over 100 and 200 meters, at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg she finished seventh over 100 meters and sixth over 200 meters.

In February 1996, Onyali tested positive for ephedrine and was banned for three months. In the summer he managed to win her bronze medal at the Olympic Summer Games in Atlanta, behind Marie-José Perec (FRA) and Merlene Ottey (JAM).

After a baby break, she took part in the 2000 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Olympics, but failed in the preliminary stages.

Today she runs a sports shop in Lagos with her husband Victor Omagbemi , the 1992 African champion over 100 and 200 meters. She is also an athlete ambassador for the development aid organization Right to Play .

Personal bests

  • 100 m: 10.97 s, August 15, 1993, Stuttgart
  • 200 m: 22.07 s, August 14, 1996, Zurich , (current African record)

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Biography ( Memento of the original from March 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.maryonyali.com archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , www.maryonyali.com
  2. ↑ ONYALI Mary (NGR) ( Memento of the original from April 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www2.iaaf.org archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , IAAF 1997
  3. ^ Daily Sun (Nigeria): Mary Onyali's new love ( Memento of August 4, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), March 14, 2006
personal data
SURNAME Onyali-Omagbemi, Mary
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Onyali, Mary
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Nigerian sprinter
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd February 1968