Uche Eke has become the first gymnast from Nigeria to compete at 2020 Tokyo Olympics, with his eye set on winning a medal for the country.
With Eke, Nigeria will present a gymnast at the Tokyo Olympics, the first time since 1952 when the country started participating in Olympics.
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The Nigerian, who is expected to fly the Nigeria colours on Saturday, July 24, is a master of balance. Like in sports, Eke is outstanding intellectually – snagging up a Margaret Mann award for demonstrating exceptional academic ability and professional promise.
He graduated from the University of Michigan School of Information’s Master of Science in Information program with a 4.0 GPA.
By qualifying for Tokyo Olympics, the 24-year-old Olympic medal hopeful said he has reached his ultimate athletic training goal.
Born in the United States to a Nigerian father and an American mother, the oft-told story of Eke’s origin in gymnastics entails a friend daring him to attempt a backflip off a couch, with Eke landing on his head not once, but twice. His mother, Tara, quickly signed up her youngest son for gymnastics class.
Since then, Eke has expanded his adventuresome ways to include dirt biking, skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding and hill-bombing, which involves racing a scooter or bike down a slope as fast as possible. And skydiving is on his bucket list. With these skills, Eke hopes win a medal.
In an interview with Baltimoresun media, Eke expressed;
I dream about raising my hand, saluting, getting ready to perform my routines. I dream of walking out on the main stage with the Nigerian colors. Too bad there won’t be any fans there to raise the flag. But it’s ok. It’s all in my heart.
Both of my dreams came true. My dream of being an Olympic gymnast is finally right in front of my eyes, and I’m making my parents proud.
Eke earlier represented his fatherland in May 2021 at African Championships in Cairo, Egypt. Then, it was a qualifying event for the Nigerian who has been practicing gymnastics since the age of three.
“What’s driving me is that I want to give back to Nigeria every time I go,” he said, noting that he wants to bring honor to the country where his father was born and where he visits twice a year.
Eke expressed;
In gymnastics, it’s not just, ‘Oh, I’m doing a flip and I will land.’ No. I happened to land due to a bunch of practice. A competition is like an exam. If you’ve studied as hard as you could for the exam, then you should be doing well. Same for gymnastics. If you train as hard as you can, then your performance at the competition should reflect your practice.
Speaking further, the gymnast added;
I am not under any pressure, I just want to go out there and do my stuff. I want to win a medal for Nigeria, but first I will need to get to the final, the first step to winning medal.
I will be competing in six events and if I make the finals, anything can happen. I want to go out there and put all the hard work of 20 years, when I first started gymnastics, to the test.
I am not going to be concentrating on any other person; I will focus on myself and do what I have to do out there.
Eke competed for Nigeria at 2019 African Games in August in Rabat, Morocco, where he won a gold medal on pommel horse and a bronze in the parallel bars.
In May 2021, he qualified for Olympics after capturing the bronze medal in the all-around competition at African Gymnastics Championships in Cairo.
On his feelings after qualifying for the Olympics, Eke, whose father, Daniel, hails from Anambra State, said it was a dream come true.
He recalled with excitement;
I pinched myself and had to ask myself if I was dreaming, for I really did it. Then I quickly re-watched the video that I made while in the bathroom, saying this is the day to see if I’m an Olympian or not.
I always do these quick video snippets of me facing the mirror in the bathroom; videos that I would watch at the end of the events to see if I would be happy or sad. But on that day, I was so happy. I was just super excited.
Eke is scheduled to compete at Ariake Gymnastics Centre, in Tokyo, venue of Olympic Games gymnastics events from Saturday, July 24.
Watch a video of him speaking below;
Meet 24-year-old Uche Eke: The first-ever gymnast to represent Nigeria at the Olympic Games
#TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/vZz5DC1iHu
— Dionne Grant (@DionneGrant) July 22, 2021
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