Abi Oyepitan
Abiodun Adesola "Abi" Oyepitan (born 30 December 1979) is a British sprint athlete, who specialises in the 100 and 200 metres. She won the 100 m at the 2001 Summer Universiade and at the 2002 Commonwealth Games she took a bronze medal with the 4 × 100 m team. She became one of Britain's best female sprinters, becoming the first British female to reach an Olympic final in a sprint event since Kathy Cook.[1] However, following her performance in the 2004 Athens Olympics, she suffered an injury, which all but brought her career to a halt.
She made a winning comeback in 2010, competing in the Diamond League and winning a silver medal for England at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in the 200 m and a gold medal when she anchored the 4 × 100 m relay team to a win.
Oyepitan at the 2012 Summer Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Abiodun Adesola Oyepitan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | London, England | 30 December 1979||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Running | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | 100 metres, 200 metres | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early career
Abi was born in Westminster, London to Nigerian parents. Her name "Adesola" means "crowned with wealth" in Yoruba.[2] She attended Bentley Wood High School.[3] She represents Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers athletics club. Her first outing to a major athletics came at the 1998 World Junior Athletics Championships, where she finished fourth as part of the British 4 x 100 m relay team. She continued to perform well at the junior level, but her progress was interrupted in 2000 by an injury. She managed to bounce back the following year, with her comeback including a silver medal at the European under-23 Championships.
She was again part of the 4 x 100 m relay squad at the 2001 World Championships. Although the squad came away empty handed, they set the second fastest time ever by a British squad. She went on to take gold at the World Student Games that same year.
2002 saw Abi make the final of the Commonwealth Games 100 m and improve on this in the relay by taking silver behind an Australian team. She also made the final of the European Athletics Championships, where Ekaterini Thanou took the gold.
She continued to improve and in 2003 broke her 200 m personal best in taking her first national senior title.
2004 saw Abi step up to hold her own with the best in the world. At a meeting in Kalamata, Greece, in May she won the 100 m, then beat the reigning European Champion Muriel Hurtis in the 200 m.[4]
2004 Athens Olympics
At the 2004 Summer Olympics Abi was unfortunate in not making the 100 m final. Running in the faster of the two semi-finals, she finished fifth in her heat with a time of 11.18 s, that equalled LaTasha Colander's fourth placed time that saw her through in the second semi.
Despite not making that final, her good form gave her confidence for her preferred event the 200 m where she set a personal best in the first round, then comfortably progressed through round two and the semi-final, finishing second in both to Allyson Felix. She was passed early on in the final by eventual winner Veronica Campbell and eventually finished joint 7th, but happy with her overall performance.[5]
Her appearance in the 200 m final was the first women's Olympic sprint final (100 + 200 m) to feature a Brit since Kathy Smallwood-Cook at the Los Angeles Olympics twenty years previously. She was also the only Briton to reach the sprint finals, all of the men failing for the first time in twenty-eight years, despite later going on to win the 4 × 100 m relay.
After 2004
Following the Olympics, a stress fracture injury caused her to miss the 2005 athletics season. She returned to the track in 2006, but the injury continued to limit her performances.[6]
In 2010, she returned to take silver in the 200 m and a gold in the 4 x 100 m relay at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
2012 London Olympics
In 2012, Abi came 2nd in the Oslo leg of the Diamond League 200 m Women in 22.71s. She then qualified for 2012 Olympics in London, where she competed in the 100 m and 200 m, making the semi-finals in both events.
In 2014, she announced her retirement.
National titles
- AAAs (of England) National 100 metres Champion – 2004 (2nd in 2002, 2003)
- AAAs National 200 metres Champion – 2003 (2nd in 2004)
International competitions
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing | |||||
1998 | World Junior Championships | Annecy, France | 4th | 4 × 100 m relay | 44.65 |
1999 | European U23 Championships | Gothenburg, Sweden | 18th (h) | 100m | 25.00 (wind: -0.2 m/s) |
2001 | World Student Games | Beijing, China | 1st | 100 m | 11.42 |
European U23 Championships | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 2nd | 100m | 11.58 (wind: -1.2 m/s) | |
1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 44.31 | |||
2004 | Olympic Games | Athens, Greece | semi-final | 100 m | 11.18 |
7th | 200 m | 22.87 | |||
2012 | Olympic Games | London, England | semi-final | 100 m | 11.36 |
semi-final | 200 m | 23.14 | |||
Representing | |||||
2002 | Commonwealth Games | Manchester, England | 3rd | 4×100 m relay | 42.84 |
2010 | Commonwealth Games | Delhi, India | 2nd | 200 m | 23.26 |
1st | 4×100 m relay | 44.19 |
Personal bests
Event | Best | Location | Date |
---|---|---|---|
60 metres | 7.27 s | Glasgow, Scotland | 24 January 2004 |
100 metres | 11.17 s | Birmingham, England | 23 July 2004 |
200 metres | 22.50 s | Athens, Greece | 23 August 2004 |
- All information taken from IAAF profile.[7]
References
- Rowbottom, Mike (26 August 2004) The Olympics 2004; Athletics: Oyepitan lone light as British The Independent Retrieved on 12 May 2009
- "Adesola". Online Nigeria: Nigerian Names and Meanings. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/2341477/My-Sport-Abi-Oyepitan.html
- Nikitaridis, Michalis (29 May 2004) Double win for Abi Oyepitan in Kalamata EAA Permit Meeting. IAAF Retrieved on 11 July 2009
- Oyepitan, brave but ultimately bowed. The Times (25 August 2004) Retrieved on 12 May 2009
- The Road to Kaunas: How the women's class of 2001 fared as seniors. European Athletics (9 July 2009) Retrieved on 11 July 2009
- Oyepitan Abiodun biography IAAF Retrieved on 12 May 2009
External links
- Abi Oyepitan at World Athletics
- "Abiodun Oyepitan at the British Olympic Association". Archived from the original on 25 February 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2009.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
- Abi Oyepitan at Team GB
- Abi Oyepitan at the International Olympic Committee
- Abi Oyepitan at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- Abi Oyepitan at the Commonwealth Games Federation
Preceded by Joice Maduaka |
British Champion in 100m 2004 |
Succeeded by Laura Turner |