A former Bearcat made history earlier Tuesday afternoon at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Annette Echikunwoke stared for the Cincinnati track and field team throughout her collegiate career stemming from 2014-2019. Echikunwoke etched her name into history in 2017 after she claimed the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championship national title in the hammer throw. However, what is even more impressive is that the Pickerington North graduate currently holds school records for four of the five throwing events she completed in during her tenure in Clifton.
Echikunwoke has simply etched her name into history books following the competition of her collegiate tenure after finishing her career a seven-time AAC Champion and four-time All-American first team selection.
Now for Annette, her story to the Olympics haven’t been quite as easy after qualifying for the 2020 Toyko Olympics as she was looking to suit up for her parents’ home country of Nigeria and compete in the hammer throw. However, Echikunwoke was not able to compete after being disqualified from the Olympics after claiming the African Federation of Nigeria failed to submit the proper drug testing paperwork on her behalf. What is even crazier, is that it wasn’t just Echikunwoke that was affected by this misunderstanding, but also ten other athletes across various sports.
Now just three years later, Echikunwoke etches her name into history yet again after becoming the first athlete from the United States to medal in the hammer throw in Olympic history. Echikunwoke was leading the hammer throw finals after the first three rounds as she kept the United States in the hunt for another medal opportunity.
Echikunwoe threw a season high 75.48 meters which is equivalent to roughly (247 feet) on her third throw of the afternoon which was good enough to earn silver behind Canada’s Camryn Rogers (76.97 meters). The former Cincinnati standout also outdueled China’s Zhao Jie (74.27 Meters) by just a slight margin to solidify her legacy once again.
With her performance this afternoon, Echikunwoe becomes the third Cincinnati track and field member to medal in the Olympics joining Mary Weinberg (Gold, in 4×400 relay), and David Payne (110m hurdles).
