American-born Uche Eke Wins Gymnastic Gold for Nigeria
Team Nigeria won an African Games gold in an event it never counted as strong area of influence yesterday as American born gymnast, Uche Eke, delivered the precious medal in the pommel horse category, beating the Algerians and Egyptians to the top spot.
The 22 year-old graduate of computer science from University of Michigan in May of 2019 missed the entire last gymnastic season due to injury.
Winning the gold of the pommel horse category is Eke’s confirmation that his dream of going to Tokyo next year to become the first African to win a medal in gymnastics at the Olympics remains on course.
Born in Maryland, USA to Nigerian parents, Eke is drawing inspirations from the likes of Courtney Dike, Alex Iwobi and the current trio of Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga who remain committed to Nigeria despite having the option of representing other countries of their births.
However, Technical Director of the Gymnastics Federation of Nigeria (GFN), Anthony Asuquo, is not satisfied with the performance of the country’s athletes in the sport, insisting that whatever medals won so far did not come through performances during the competition.
Instead of the gymnastic federation taking credit for the gymnasts’ feats in the North African country, Asuquo opted to remain introspect, as he reckoned that the haul of medals in Morocco would send a wrong signal that things are being done right in the sport back home. On the contrary, the founder of Abuja-based Tony International Gymnastics (TIG) Academy stressed during a radio sports programme monitored in Lagos yesterday that Nigeria has neglected youth development and grassroots efforts in the sector.