Medal record | ||
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Men's athletics | ||
Representing Nigeria | ||
All-Africa Games | ||
1978 Algiers | Long jump | |
1978 Algiers | Triple jump |
Charlton Ehizuelen (born 30 November 1953) is a Nigerian former track and field athlete who competed in the long jump and triple jump. He set personal bests of 8.26 m (27 ft 1 in) and 16.82 m (55 ft 2 in) for the events, respectively. The latter mark from 1975 remains the Nigerian indoor record.
As an international competitor, he became the first person to win both long jump and triple jump titles at the All-Africa Games, doing so at the 1978 Games in Algiers. He was also a double winner at the one-off West African Games held in 1977. At the inaugural 1977 IAAF World Cup he was a long jump bronze medallist and triple jump fourth-placer. He was one of only three members of the African team to reach the podium that year, alongside Ethiopians Miruts Yifter and Eshetu Tura. He represented Africa again at the 1981 IAAF World Cup, but was eighth in the long jump on that occasion. His international career on the highest stage was stymied by Nigeria's boycotts of the 1976 Montreal Olympics where he was a favorite for a medal and the 1978 Commonwealth Games, done in response to South African apartheid.
Ehizuelen attended University of Illinois and won the NCAA Division I Championship titles in the men's long jump (1975) and the men's triple jump (1974). He was the first African to win either title. He also twice won the long jump at the NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships (1976, 1977). His success in the American collegiate system came at a time of growing foreign participation in college track, with eight non-Americans winning titles at the 1975 NCAA Championships. He also competed collegiately in his native continent, winning a long jump/triple jump double at the 1975 All-Africa University Games and defending his long jump title four years later. He remained based in the United States during his career and was the long jump winner at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Ehizuelen remains resident in the United States, is a member of USA Track and Field and has advocated greater support of the Nigerian diaspora to bolster the nation's sporting success.
International competitions
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1975 | All-Africa University Games | Accra, Ghana | 1st | Long jump | 7.94 m |
1st | Triple jump | 15.80 m | |||
1977 | IAAF World Cup | Düsseldorf, West Germany | 3rd | Long jump | 7.89 |
4th | Triple jump | 16.31 | |||
West African Games | Lagos, Nigeria | 1st | Long jump | 7.92 m | |
1st | Triple jump | 16.55 m | |||
1978 | All-Africa Games | Algiers, Algeria | 1st | Long jump | 7.92 m |
1st | Triple jump | 16.51 m | |||
1979 | All-Africa University Games | Nairobi, Kenya | 1st | Long jump | 7.60 m |
1981 | IAAF World Cup | Rome, Italy | 8th | Long jump | 7.47 m |
National titles
- USA Indoor Track and Field Championships
- Long jump: 1978
- NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships
- Long jump: 1975
- Triple jump: 1974
- NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships
- Long jump: 1976, 1977
Seasonal bests
- Long jump
- 1975: 8.26 m (27 ft 1 in)
- 1976: 7.85 m (25 ft 9 in)
- 1977: 8.18 m (26 ft 10 in)
- 1978: 8.11 m (26 ft 7+1⁄4 in)
- 1979: 8.04 m (26 ft 4+1⁄2 in)
- 1980: 8.14 m (26 ft 8+1⁄4 in)
- 1981: 7.77 m (25 ft 5+3⁄4 in)
See also
References
- ^ Charlton Ehizuelen. Track and Field Brinkster. Retrieved on 2017-04-03.
- All-Africa Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2017-04-03.
- West African Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2017-04-03.
- IAAF World Cup. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2017-04-03.
- "Charlton Ehizuelen: My Journey to Highway Victory". 7 May 2013.
- ^ Abdullahi, Sadiq (2012-12-05). Sports Development in Nigeria: The Charlton Ehizuelen Story Archived 2017-04-04 at the Wayback Machine. Nigerians in America. Retrieved on 2017-04-03.
- 1976: African countries boycott Olympics. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2017-04-03.
- NCAA Division I Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2017-04-03.
- NCAA Outdoor Division I Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2017-04-03.
- Reid, Ron (1975-06-16). it Was a Foreign Affair. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved on 2017-04-03.
- All-Africa University Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2017-04-03.
- USA Indoor Track and Field Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2017-04-03.
- 1976 Men's Long Jump. Mennea. Retrieved on 2017-04-03.
- 1981 Men's Long Jump. Mennea. Retrieved on 2017-04-03.
External links
African Games champions in men's long jump | |
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African Games champions in men's triple jump | |
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- USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners
- Living people
- 1953 births
- Nigerian male long jumpers
- Nigerian male triple jumpers
- African Games gold medalists for Nigeria
- African Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Illinois Fighting Illini men's track and field athletes
- Nigerian emigrants to the United States
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 All-Africa Games
- 20th-century Nigerian people
- NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners
- NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners