Yemisi Ogunleye
Yemisi Ogunleye, on Thursday, won a historic gold medal in the Women’s Shot Put final at the Paris Olympics, not for Nigeria but for Germany.
She becomes the first athlete in 20 years to win a medal for Germany in Shot Put event.
Ogunleye, 25 was born in Germersheim, Germany and grew up in the village of Bellheim. She has a German mother and a Yoruba Nigerian father.
She threw 20.00m in the last round to win Germany’s first gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
New Zealand’s Maddison-Lee Wesche won the silver medal after throwing 19.86 meters for her Personal Best throw, while China’sJiayuan Song won bronze, throwing 19.32 meters.
The winner, Ogunleye trains with the club MTG Mannheim in Mannheim, Germany.
She finished 10th at the 2023 World Athletics Championships. At the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships, Ogunleye led the field after the first throw, and despite only throwing one more valid attempt she won the silver medal.
The athlete is also a gospel singer.
While the Shot Putter is winning gold for Germany, Nigeria is yet to win any medal at the Paris Olympics. – SB
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