Chukwuebuka Enekwechi: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Nigerian-American athlete (born 1993)}}

|caption=2023 African Games

|birth_date={{birth date and age|1993|011|28|df=yesy}}

|birth_place=[[Queens]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[United States]]U.S.

| medaltemplates =
{{Medal|Sport | Men's [[Athletics (sport)|Athletics]]}}

{{Medal|Gold|[[2018 African Championships in Athletics|2018 Asaba]]|[[2018 African Championships in Athletics – Men's shot put|shotShot put]]}}

{{Medal|Gold|[[20192024 All-AfricaAfrican Championships in Athletics Games|20192024 RabatDouala]]|[[Athletics2024 at theAfrican 2019Championships Africanin GamesAthletics – Men's shot put|shotShot put]]}}

'''Chukwuebuka Cornnell Enekwechi''' (born 28 January 1993) is a [[Nigerian Americans|Nigerian-]][[United States|American]] [[track and field]] athlete, specializing in throwing events. HeBorn in the United States, he competes internationally for [[Nigeria]]. He is the 2018 [[Commonwealth Games]] Silver medallistmedalist and reigning [[African Championships in Athletics|African Champion]] in the [[shot put]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iaaf.org/news/report/obiri-ta-lou-samaai-african-champs-day-2|title=Obiri and Ta Lou dominate, Samaai defeats Manyonga at African Championships in Asaba|website=www.iaaf.org|language=en|access-date=2019-04-28}}</ref> He is also the 2019 [[African Games]] Champion and the reigning [[Nigerian National Sports Festival]] Champion.

While competing for [[Purdue University]], he threw the [[shot put]], [[discus]], [[hammer throw|hammer]] and [[weight throw|weight]]. He was runner-up at the [[2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships|2016 NCAA Championships]] in the shot put and sixth in the hammer that same day. He was the 2014 and 2015 Big Ten Champion in the Hammer Throw and also the Field athlete of the year in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bigten.org/news/2015/5/19/big_ten_announces_men_s_outdoor_track_amp_field_individual_honors.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308025619/https://bigten.org/news/2015/5/19/big_ten_announces_men_s_outdoor_track_amp_field_individual_honors.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 March 2022|title=Big Ten Announces Men's Outdoor Track & Field Individual Honors|website=bigten.org[[Big Ten Conference]]|access-date=2019-04-28}}</ref>

He began his 2019 outdoor season with a shot put personal best of 21.28 m at the Taylor George Glass Invitational.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://crossroadstiming.com/results/2019/TaylorInvit/index.html|title=2019 Taylor George Glass Invitational {{!}} MeetPro by DirectAthletics|website=crossroadstiming.com|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://trackandfieldnews.com/world-mens-list-2019/|title=World Men's List — 2019|website=Track & Field News|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref> This mark remained one of the top ten throws in the world until he bettered it at the [[Grande Premio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo]] World Challenge meet. He set a new Nigerian National record of 21.77 m to win the event.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 28, 2019 |title=Results: 2019 Grande Premio Brasil De Atletismo |url=https://www.watchathletics.com/page/1989/results-2019-grande-premio-brasil-de-atletismo |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230910205225/https://www.watchathletics.com/page/1989/results-2019-grande-premio-brasil-de-atletismo |archive-date=September 10, 2023 |access-date=September 10, 2023 |website=Watch Athletics}}</ref> This record bettered the previous record held by [[Stephen Mozia]] which was 21.76 m.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://athleticsafrica.blogspot.com/2019/04/enekwechi-sets-new-nigerian-shot-put.html|title=Enekwechi sets new Nigerian Shot Put record in Bragança Paulista - IAAF World Challenge 2019|website=Enekwechi sets new Nigerian Shot Put record in Bragança Paulista - IAAF World Challenge 2019|access-date=2019-09-20}}</ref> Enekwechi represented Nigeria at the [[2019 African Games|2019 All Africa Games]]. Going into the competition, he had bettered his national record with a throw of 21.80 m a little over a week before the games.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nigeriaathletics.com/weekend-wrap-enekwechis-monstrous-throw-erases-nr-as-amusan-impressively-takes-3rd-in-birmingham/|title=Weekend Wrap: Enekwechi's huge throw erases NR, as Amusan impressively takes 3rd in Birmingham|date=2019-08-19|website=Nigeria Athletics|access-date=2019-09-20|archive-date=12 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812172217/https://nigeriaathletics.com/weekend-wrap-enekwechis-monstrous-throw-erases-nr-as-amusan-impressively-takes-3rd-in-birmingham/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Showing impressive consistency, he won the event with a 21.48 m throw, which is also an African Games record.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.makingofchamps.com/2019/08/27/team-nigeria-review-african-games-day-12-tuesday-august-27th/|title=Team Nigeria Review – African Games Day 12 (Tuesday, August 27th)|last=Ogeyingbo|first=Deji|date=2019-08-27|website=MAKING OF CHAMPIONS|access-date=2019-09-20}}</ref> This made him the third Nigerian man to win the event at the African Games. He will representrepresented Nigeria at the [[2019 World Athletics Championships|2019 World Championships]] in [[Doha]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.makingofchamps.com/2019/09/19/okagbare-oduduru-amusan-top-nigerias-entry-list-for-2019-world-champs/|title=Okagbare, Oduduru & Amusan top Nigeria's entry list for 2019 World Champs|last=Maduewesi|first=Christopher|date=2019-09-19|website=MAKING OF CHAMPIONS|access-date=2019-09-20}}</ref> Going into the championships, he was still ranked within the top ten in the world.