Mariam Ibekwe (née Nnodu; born 29 October 1969) is a Nigerian former track and field athlete who competed in the shot put. She set her personal best of in 2007.Mariam Nnodu-Ibekwe . All-Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-08-07.
Ibekwe won her first international medals in 1989, taking the title at the West African University Games and a silver medal behind Hanan Ahmed Khaled at the 1989 African Championships in Athletics, held on home turf in Lagos.West African University Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-08-07.African Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-08-07. She was again behind Egypt's Khaled at the 1991 All-Africa Games, coming third on that occasion.All-Africa Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-08-07.
She had a break from international competition in the mid-1990s, but returned in 1997 with a win at the West African Athletics Championships and eighth at the 1998 IAAF World Cup.West African Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-08-07. She continued to compete into her thirties, being a finalist at the 2003 All-Africa Games and the 2003 Afro-Asian Games. Her career peak came at the age of forty, when she won the shot put gold medal at the 2010 African Championships in Athletics.Kenya overtakes Nigeria, Uganda grabs first gold as African Championships ends in Nairobi. Athletics Africa. Retrieved on 2016-08-07. In her final major international appearance, she was seventh at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup.Mariam Nnodu-Ibekwe. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-08-07.
At national level, she won three straight titles at the Nigerian Athletics Championships between 1989 and 1991, becoming the first woman to throw beyond fourteen metres at the competition. She fell behind Vivian Chukwuemeka in the national rankings in the mid-1990s, but returned with two national titles in 1997 and 1998, with championship records of and . Chukwuemeka won the next seven titles and Ibekwe won her sixth national title in 2006.Nigerian Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-08-07.
International competitions 1989West African University GamesOuagadougou, Burkina Faso1stShot put13.08 mAfrican ChampionshipsLagos, Nigeria2ndShot put14.02 m1991All-Africa GamesCairo, Egypt3rdShot put14.66 m1997West African Athletics ChampionshipsCotonou, Benin1stShot put15.47 m1998World CupJohannesburg, South Africa8thShot put15.60 m2003All-Africa GamesAbuja, Nigeria4thShot put15.17 mAfro-Asian GamesHyderabad, India6thShot put14.78 m2010African ChampionshipsNairobi, Kenya1stShot put13.67 mContinental CupSplit, Croatia7thShot put13.67 m
National titles Nigerian Athletics Championships Shot put: 1989, 1990, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2006
See also List of champions of the African Championships in Athletics
References
External links