Nigeria’s Chierika Ukogu has qualified for the semi-finals of the women’s single scull rowing event in Rio.
The Stanford University graduate became the first Nigerian to compete at the Olympics in rowing and has now gone one better as she is one event away from being in the finals of the event.
Nigeria has traditionally focused its attention and resource on its participation in football and athletics where it has won the majority of its Olympic medals.
It is therefore a testament to Chierika’s determination that she has qualified for the semi-finals, clocking a qualification time of 7:54.44.
Chierika, also known as Coco, independently raised funds for her stay in Rio and will be competing on Wednesday (today) in one of six semi-final events.
She qualified for the Olympics in October 2015 at the African Olympic Qualification Regatta in Tunisia.
