Former Nigerian hammer thrower, Annette Echikunwoke wins Olympic medal for the United States

Former Nigerian hammer thrower, Annette Echikunwoke has won an Olympic medal for the United States in women’s hammer throw.

The 28-year-old hammer thrower threw a season’s best of 75.48 m to win silver.  She finished behind Canada’s Camryn Rodgers, who threw 76.79m to win gold, while China’s Jie Zhao was third with a throw of 74.27m.

The achievement came four years after she was disqualified from the Tokyo Olympics due to administrative errors by Nigerian officials, despite not testing positive for banned substances.

Born in the US to Nigerian parents, Echikunwoke initially chose to represent Nigeria in 2020 Olympics, but after the Tokyo incident, she switched her allegiance to the United States.

Her decision to switch allegiance has now proved fruitful, as she is now one of America’s top hammer throwers.