Chima Kingsley Ugwu (born 19 July 1973 in

Enugu Enugu ( ; ) is the capital city of Enugu State in Nigeria. It is located in southeastern part of Nigeria. The city had a population of 820,000 according to the 2022 Nigerian census. The name ''Enugu'' is derived from the two Igbo words ''Én ...

) is a Nigerian

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

ter. He also occasionally competed in

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by t ...

. He competed at the

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, and 2004 Summer Olympics, and the World Championships in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

and

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without reaching the finals. Ugwu came to the United States in 1994 and won the 1995

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

outdoor shot put title while attending

Central Arizona College Central Arizona College (CAC) is a public community college near Coolidge, Arizona. CAC serves the population of Pinal County. History and campus Since 1969, Central Arizona College has been serving and educating the communities of Pinal Cou ...

. He was then recruited to play defensive tackle for the

Arizona Wildcats football The Arizona Wildcats football program represents the University of Arizona (UA) in the sport of American college football. Arizona competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Sout ...

team, even though he had never played the sport before. He also won

Pacific-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Divis ...

titles in both the shot put and discus throw. His personal best throw is 20.26 metres, achieved in July 2000 in

Lagos Lagos ( Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 f ...

. This is the previous Nigerian record, and ranks him fifth in South Africans Janus Robberts,

Burger Lambrechts Burger Lambrechts (born 3 April 1973) is a South African shot putter. He attended Laerskool Nelspruit, where he was head-boy in 1986 and Hoërskool Waterkloof, where he was vice head-boy in 1991. As far as tertiary education is concerned, Lamb ...

and

Karel Potgieter Karel Potgieter (born 21 September 1975 in Pretoria) is a South African former shot put athlete who competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics, where he scored a 19.02 in the first heat, not enough to advance to the next round. His personal best is 20. ...

Personal life

In 2017, Ugwu was indicted for attempting to ship firearms to Nigeria. Chima was arrested in 2013 not 2017. The case went to trial in 2015 when charges were dismissed. His son, Kingsley, plays football at Kansas State Wildcats football, Kansas State.

Competition record

References

External links