Joy Udoh-Gabriel’s zeal and courage as a young athlete has placed her alongside veterans and top performers in the global athletics scene.
At just 20 years, she has competed in, and won several national events. She is also a Commonwealth Games medalist.
Udo-Gabriel was discovered at the MOCs’ Top Sprinter Auditions, held in Benin in 2015. However, it wasn’t until 2018 that this athlete gained global recognition representing Nigeria at at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth games.
Track Star
In 2014, Udo-Gabriel finished second in the 100m event at the National School Sports Festival in Benue State. She also competed in the 4x100m at the event, where she finished in first place.
In 2015, she was crowned the fastest school girl in Lagos State, following her stellar 12.91s performance in the 100m event at the Lagos State Secondary School Sports Festival.
In September of the same year, Udo-Gabriel reduced her PB to 12.5s at the Top Sprinter Benin Auditions, where she also emerged the winner of the race. However, she could not replicate her superb show at the finals in Lagos, finishing in fourth place with a time of 12.95s.
Nigerian Olympic medallist, Deji Aliu, took Udo-Gabriel under his wings in November 2015, and the consequence of this was a serial increase in the sprinter’s athletic prowess.
At the AFN Golden League B Final in Akure, she reduced her PB to 11.87s finishing ahead of more established athletes.
Her victory in the race earned her a chance to compete at the Nigerian Trials where she finished 7th in Heats 3 in 11.88s.
The Nigerian’s impressive form saw her quickly rise through the ranks to become one of MOC’s most promising athletes, and a beneficiary of the body’s Student-Athlete scholarship, where she is being sponsored by Oil and Gas company, ARCO Group ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Udo-Gabriel, yet again, shaved off a few seconds off her Personal Best (PB) at the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) / Dynamic Sporting Solutions Track and Field Meet in Abuja, where she finished first in the 100m event with a time of 11.65s, before storming to a PB of 24.26s in the 200m race to qualify for the African Junior Championships in both events.
Regrettably, Nigeria did not send a delegation to the continental meeting that year.
The sad turn out of events did not stop this brave athlete, however, as she continued to dominate every event she participated in.
Commonwealth Games
In February 2018, Udo-Gabriel qualified to represent Nigeria at the Commonwealth Games in Australia, when she finished 3rd in the women’s 100m event at the Commonwealth Games Trials in Abuja.
At Gold Coat 2018, she hit a new PB of 11.42s in the 100m event, before she made a time of 11.53 in the semi final where she placed fourth.
She redeemed herself in the 4x100m relay event when she partnered with Africa’s 200m record holder, Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor, Tobi Amusan, and Rosemary Chukwuma, to win bronze in the 4x100m event.
Her inspiring performance at the games spurred her sponsor, ARCO Group, to extend her scholarship until 2022.
Featured image source: Pulse.ng