Muizat Ajoke Odumosu Alademerin (born 27 October 1987 in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

) is a Nigerian

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who specialises in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

and the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Summer Olympics, Olympic Sport of athletics, athletics programme since 1900 Summer Olympics, 1900 for men and since 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 for women. On a ...

. She represented Nigeria at the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and competed at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...

in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. She was the bronze medallist at the

2007 All-Africa Games The 9th All-Africa Games (; ), also known as Algiers 2007 (), took place from 11 to 23 July 2007 in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. Algiers became the first city to hold All-Africa Games for a second time. The 1978 All-Africa Games were a ...

and went on to become the continental champion with a win at the

and 2012 African Championships. In 2010, she won the gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

, and was runner-up at the

African Championships An African Championship is a top level international sports competition between Africa, African athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports club, sports clubs. List of championships ;Athletics * African ...

and also took a silver medal for Africa at the Continental Cup. She still holds the Nigerian record in the 400 m hurdles, after improving on her personal best to 54.40 seconds during the 2012 London Olympics semi-finals.

Early life

Born in

, Odumosu attended Toybat High school before moving to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to study at the

University of South Alabama The University of South Alabama (USA) is a public research university in Mobile, Alabama, United States. It was created by the Alabama Legislature in May 1963 and replaced existing extension programs operated in Mobile by the University of Alaba ...

Athletics career

College athletics

At the University of South Alabama, Odumosu represented the college's

South Alabama Jaguars The South Alabama Jaguars represent the University of South Alabama in NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics. USA competes in the Sun Belt Conference; it is the conference's only remaining charter member from its inception. USA's athletics te ...

team, she was the 400 m

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that has been affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football confe ...

champion in 2004 but missed most of the 2004–05 season due to injury. In 2006, she became the indoor 400 m Sun Belt champion and took a sprint and hurdles double at the outdoor meeting. She reached the

NCAA Championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and 1 in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and helps ...

final that year, but was disqualified due to knocking over a hurdle.Ajoke Odumosu Jaguar Biography
USA Jaguars, 11 July 2007; Retrieved 4 September 2010 She improved her personal record to 55.37 seconds to win at the

Drake Relays The Drake Relays is an outdoor track and field event held in Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa, in Drake Stadium (Drake University), Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University. Billed as ''America's Athletic Classic'', it is regarded as one ...

in 2007 – a world-leading mark at that point of the season.

Global competition

Odumosu represented Nigeria internationally for the first time in August 2006, taking part in the World Junior Championships. She finished fifth in the 400 m hurdles final but managed to help the Nigerian women's

4×400 metres relay A four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, is a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case pro ...

team (including

Folashade Abugan Folashade Abigeal Abugan (born 17 December 1990) is a Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres. She was the 400 m bronze medalist at the 2007 All-Africa Games and improved to the silver medal at the 2008 African Championships, ...

, Joy Eze and Sekinat Adesanyato) the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

, setting a new African junior record of 3:30.84 for the event. She began competing professionally in 2007 and won the hurdles

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

at the

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

in July. At the 2007 World Championships (her first senior global championships) she ran in the 400 m hurdles, but was eliminated in the heats stage. She reached the top of the continental rankings with a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

at the 2008 African Championships, taking the hurdles win in 55.92 seconds. She made her first Olympic appearance in August 2008, running the

400 metres sprint The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is on ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. She set a personal best 51.39 seconds to progress through the heats, but she was eliminated in the semi-finals. She ran in the 4×400 metres relay and reached the final where the Nigerians finished in seventh placed. At the 2009 World Championships she reached the 400 m hurdles semi-finals and was sixth overall with the women's relay team. She also set a meeting record at the

Ponce Grand Prix The Ponce Grand Prix de Atletismo is a track and field competition held yearly in Ponce, Puerto Rico at the Francisco Montaner Stadium. The event started in 2007, after the successful hosting of the 2006 Ibero-American Championships.Robinson, J ...

, where she won in 55.02 seconds. Odumosu set a Nigerian record at the

Herculis The Herculis is an annual track and field meet at Stade Louis II in Fontvieille, Monaco. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events. Herculis is now part of the Diamond League. Editions World records Over the course of its histo ...

meeting in July 2010, running 54.68 seconds for fifth in the hurdles. She returned to defend her hurdles title at the 2010 African Championships, but she had to content herself with the

behind

Hayat Lambarki Hayat Lambarki (; born 18 May 1988 in Safi) is a Moroccan track and field athlete specializing in the 400 metres hurdles. She competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics where she got to the semifinals. Her personal best in the event is 55.27 achiev ...

. She still reached the top of the podium at the competition, however, as she helped the 4×400 m relay team to a championship record of 3:29.26. Along with Lambarki, Odumosu was selected to represent the African team in the 400 m hurdles at the

2010 IAAF Continental Cup The 1st IAAF Continental Cup was an international track and field sporting event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations. Originally scheduled as the 11th IAAF World Cup in Athletics, it was renamed in 200 ...

. She improved her national record to 54.59 seconds at the competition and secured the silver medal behind Jamaican

Nickiesha Wilson Nickiesha Wilson (born 28 July 1986 in Kingston) is a hurdler from Jamaica. She competes in the 100 m hurdles and the 400 m hurdles. Currently her 100 m hurdles personal best is 12.79 achieved at Szczecin, Poland in 2009. She ran a personal be ...

, running for the Americas. On 10 October 2010 Odomosu won the gold medal in the 400m hurdles at the

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

.Commonwealth Games 2010: Greene grabs Wales' first gold
BBC Sport, 10 October 2010

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Odumosu Muizat 1987 births Living people Athletes from Lagos Yoruba sportswomen Yoruba sportspeople Nigerian female sprinters Nigerian female hurdlers Olympic athletes for Nigeria Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Nigeria Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games South Alabama Jaguars women's track and field athletes African Games gold medalists for Nigeria African Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) African Games silver medalists for Nigeria African Games silver medalists in athletics (track and field) African Games bronze medalists for Nigeria African Games bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2011 All-Africa Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 African Games 21st-century Nigerian sportswomen Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics