Cecilia Otu Offiong-Akpan (born 13 June 1986 in

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari, Cali and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjac ...

, Cross River) is a Nigerian table tennis player. She won two gold medals, along with her partner

Offiong Edem Offiong Edem (born 31 December 1986 in Calabar) is a Nigerian table tennis player. She competed for Nigeria at the 2004, 2012, 2016, and 2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sp ...

, in the women's doubles 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 ...

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

, and at the

2011 All-Africa Games The 10th All-Africa Games (), also known as Maputo 2010, took place between September 3–18, 2011 in Maputo, Mozambique. Maputo's hosting marked the third time the Games was held in the southern part of the continent. Host awarding In April 20 ...

Maputo, Mozambique Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

. As of February 2013, Offiong is ranked no. 452 in the world by the

International Table Tennis Federation The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the Sport governing body, governing body for all national table tennis associations that use ITTF-approved sponge table tennis rackets. The role of the ITTF includes overseeing rules and regula ...

(ITTF). She is a member of the table tennis team for Calabar Sports Club, and is coached and trained by Obisanya Babatunde. Offiong is also right-handed, and uses the shakehand grip. Offiong made her official debut, as an 18-year-old, at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, where she competed in both singles and doubles tournaments. For her first event, the women's singles, Offiong defeated Brazil's Lígia Silva in the preliminary round, before losing out her next match to North Korea's Kim Yun-Mi, with a unanimous set score of 0–4. Offiong also teamed up with her partner Offiong Edem in the women's doubles, where they lost the first round match to Russian duo Oksana Fadeyeva and

Galina Melnik Galina Melnik (born 27 April 1970) is a former female table tennis player from Russia. She won a gold medal in the Women's Team event at the Table Tennis World Cup in 1994.

, receiving a final set score of 3–4. Four years after competing in her first Olympics, Offiong qualified for her second Nigerian team, as a 22-year-old, at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

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 ...

, by placing third from the All-Africa Games in

, and receiving a continental spot for Africa in the women's team under ITTF's Computer Team Ranking List. Offiong joined with her fellow players and Olympic veterans Olufunke Oshonaike and

Bose Kaffo Bose Kaffo (born 14 November 1972 in Surulere, Lagos State, Nigeria) is a Nigerian professional table tennis player who competed at five Olympics from 1992 to 2008. She is the second Nigerian woman to compete at five Olympics, after sprinter ...

for the inaugural

women's team A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

event. She and her team placed fourth in the preliminary pool round against Singapore, United States, and the Netherlands, receiving a total of three points and three straight losses. In the women's singles, Offiong lost the preliminary round match to Australia's

Miao Miao Miao Miao ( zh, c=苗苗, p=Miáo Miao) (born 14 January 1981, Tianjin, China) is an Australian table tennis player who represented Australia at the Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Her best Olympi ...

, with a unanimous set score of 0–4.

References

External links

NBC Olympics Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Offiong, Cecilia 1986 births Living people Nigerian female table tennis players Table tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic table tennis players for Nigeria People from Cross River State African Games gold medalists for Nigeria African Games gold medalists in table tennis African Games silver medalists in table tennis African Games bronze medalists in table tennis African Games silver medalists for Nigeria African Games bronze medalists for Nigeria Table tennis players at the 2007 All-Africa Games Table tennis players at the 2011 All-Africa Games