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| Human Interest | |
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General Interest | |
| Other information | FUTURE PLANS She says the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo will be her final Olympic Games. She hopes to stay involved in the sport after retiring from competition. "I think this Olympics will be my last Olympics. If I retire from wrestling, I will like to be a coach or a referee or be an administrator in an office, but I wish to be a coach." (olympicchannel.com, 31 Jan 2020; vanguardngr.com, 09 Feb 2020) LEADER She has served as captain of the Nigerian women's freestyle wrestling team. (punchng.com, 29 Mar 2016) EDUCATION In January 2020 she graduated with a degree in business administration from Niger Delta University. "Combining wrestling and going to school was not easy at all. My late elder brother wanted me to go to school and not be a wrestler. So I promised him I would go to school no matter what. After wrestling for some time, I decided to go to school in 2012. I really wanted to have different knowledge outside wrestling." (thenationonlineng.net, 30 Jan 2020) |
| Ambitions | To win a gold medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (olympicchannel.com, 31 Jan 2020) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | Yenagoa, NGR |
General Interest | |
| Injuries | She sustained a minor injury in August 2015 and was out for two weeks. (dailytrust.com.ng, 09 Sep 2015) |
| Awards and honours | She was named Best Female Wrestler at the 2013 Commonwealth Championships in Johannesburg, South Africa. (vanguardngr.com, 08 Dec 2013) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Name of coach | Purity Akuh [national] |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Athlete |
| Languages | English |
| Higher education | Business Administration - Nigeria Delta University: Nigeria |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Club / Team | Bayelsa State: Yenagoa, NGR |
General Interest | |
| Memorable sporting achievement | Winning gold in the 68kg category at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, QLD, Australia. (olympicchannel.com, 31 Jan 2020) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Why this sport? | "I loved doing wrestling at school. I was the best at my school. My parents used to tell me [wrestling] was for men, it's not for ladies. But when I saw female wrestlers in Nigeria doing well, travelling outside the country, I said to myself, 'I want to be travelling like them'." |
General Interest | |
| Hero / Idol | Canadian freestyle wrestler Daniel Igali. (olympicchannel.com, 31 Jan 2020) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | She began wrestling at St Jude's Girls Secondary School in Yenagoa, Nigeria. |
General Interest | |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "As a woman being a wrestler, you feel more pain in your body. Some days when you wake up, you aren't able to get up. Sometimes you feel so weak that you can't go to training. Sometimes, my coach will call me in the morning and ask, 'Blessing, are you ready for training?' That motivates me and after training, all the pain is gone." (mpelembe.net, 03 Sep 2013) |