Simidele Adeife Omonla Adeagbo, (born July 29, 1981, in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario, Canada) is a Nigerian skeleton racer who competed at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

. She is Nigeria and Africa's first female skeleton athlete. She was the first black female Olympian in the sport. In 2022, she won the woman's mono bob event in the 2022 EuroCup, held in Germany. In so doing, she became the first athlete from Africa to win an international sled race. Before competing in skeleton, Adeagbo competed in

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

, last competing in 2008.

Early life

Adeagbo was born in

, in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, to Nigerian parents. She moved to Ibadan, Nigeria when she was an infant, and lived there for six years before moving to the United States.

Career

Adeagbo served as a Nike body double for

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...

. Adeagbo is a marketing manager for Nike in South Africa since 2012. On August 18, 2018, Adeagbo spoke alongside other noteworthy speakers, to a sold-out audience during the '' TEDxLagos'' spotlight event at the Muson Centre. She shared the stage with legal practitioner Supo Shasore, Award-winning technologist Ade Olufeko, Art curator Tokini Peterside and media personality

Banky W. Olubankole Wellington (born 27 March 1981), popularly known by his stage name Banky W and credited in film as Banky Wellington, is a Nigerian-American singer, rapper, actor, entrepreneur and politician. Early life Olubankole Wellington was bo ...

amongst others.

Sports career

Adeagbo started Track and Field competition in highschool. She retired from Track and Field competition in June 2008. At that time, she failed to qualify for the Olympics by 8-inches. She had become a 4-time NCAA All-American, and was the triple jump record holder for the University of Kentucky. Adeagbo became interested in skeleton in December 2016, when she heard about the Nigeria bobsled team attempting to qualify for the Olympics. She first tried to qualify for that team at tryouts in July 2017, where she had to try in a skeleton sled instead of a bobsled. She started skeleton in September 2017. She became sponsored by her employer, Nike, for skeleton. Adeagbo competed at her first Olympics at the

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fra ...

, as part of the Nigerian team, becoming the first Nigerian to compete at the Winter Olympics. She was the Nigerian flagbearer at the 2018 Winter Olympics closing ceremony.

Personal bests

Track and field

Skeleton

References

External links

* * * * Nigerian Bobsled and Skeleton Federation: https://bsfnigeria.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Adeagbo, Simidele Skeleton racers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic skeleton racers for Nigeria Nigerian female skeleton racers Nigerian female triple jumpers Canadian sportspeople of Nigerian descent American sportspeople of Nigerian descent American female triple jumpers University of Kentucky alumni Kentucky Wildcats women's track and field athletes 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Ibadan 21st-century American sportswomen