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Chioma Ajunwa first came to international notice when she won the
long jump at the 1989 African Championships with a leap of 6.53m. Early
the following year, she competed at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in
Auckland where she came fourth in the long jump, and ran the anchor leg
of Nigeria's 4 x 100m relay team which won the bronze medal. In October
that year, she not only successfully defended her long jump title at
the African Championships, but also came second in the 100m, and was a
member of the gold medal-winning Nigerian 4 x 100m relay team. In 1991,
she won the long jump at the African Games with a new personal best of
6.67m, and as an indication of her athletic versatility, represented
Nigeria in the 1991 World Cup soccer tournament. Ajunwa made rapid
improvement in both her 100m and long jump performances in early 1992,
but on 11 June, she received a four-year suspension for failing a drug
test. Ajunwa's return in 1996 from this suspension was nothing short of
spectacular. Less than two months after her return she finished fifth
in her semi-final of the 100m at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games on 27
July, and then in the long jump final on 2 August, she produced an
amazing first round leap of 7.12m (see photo above) to win the
gold medal. The next day she ran the first leg for Nigeria in the 4 x
100m relay final in which they finished fifth. At the 1997 World
Championships in Athens, Ajunwa jumped a huge 7.01m in the qualifying
round of the long jump, but had to withdraw from the final when she
injured herself on her first jump. Ajunwa did not compete in the 1999
World Championships and did not compete at all during the 2000 season.
(Ron Casey.
In 1997 Chioma won the silver medal at the World Indoor Championships, in Paris. As a professional sportswoman Ajunwa originally played football for the Nigerian women's team and was a member of The Falcons during the Women's World Cup in 1991.
ANNUAL PROGRESS IN LONG JUMP.
2002 6.63 -0.4 Athína 10 JUN
2001 6.65 Lagos, NGR 21 JUL
1999 6.83 Lagos, NGR 29 JUL
1998 6.82 +1.6 Kaohsiung 23 MAY
1997 7.01 +1.1 Athína 07 AUG
1996 7.12 +0.9 Atlanta, GA 02 AUG (PB)
1992 6.90 -0.2 Lagos, NGR 14 MAR
1991 6.67 Al-Qâhirah 22 SEP
1990 6.50 Bauchi 03 JAN
1989 6.53 Lagos, NGR 04 AUG
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