Ene Francisca “Franca” Idoko-Isaac (born 15 June 1985, in

Benue State Benue is a State in the North Central Nigeria, North Central region of Nigeria. It is popularly referred to as part of the Middle belt. It has an estimated population of about 4,253,641 in List of Nigerian states by population, the 2006 census. ...

) is a Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

., beijing2008.cn, ret: 27 August 2008 Her personal best time over 100 m is 11.14 seconds, achieved in July 2008 in

Abuja Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...

. Her personal best time over 60 m is 7.09 seconds, achieved in February 2008 in

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...

. Thus, Ene was known as Olympic Games Silver medallist, African Championships Silver medallist and Olympic Games finalist.

Married life

Ene France Idoko married Uche Isaac, who is also a Nigerian sprinter. She then changed her name to Franca Idoko-Isaac. She left sports, which has been part of her for ten years, when she became pregnant. Idoko-Isaac had a baby boy named Chris Uche Isaac and stayed away from sports for two years to nurse her baby.

Career in sports

Ene won the bronze medal with the African

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

team at the

2006 IAAF World Cup The 10th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event, held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, which took place on 16 and 17 September 2006 at the Olympic Stadium in At ...

. In

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At indoor events, the 60 metres is run on lanes set out in the mi ...

she finished seventh at the

2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Luis Puig Palace in Valencia, Spain, March 7–9, 2008. Bid Valencia was announced the winning bidder by the IAAF on November 13, 2005 at an IAAF Council meeting in Moscow, Rus ...

. At the 2008 African Championships she finished fourth in the 100 metres. 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 ...

she competed at the

sprint. In her first round heat she placed fourth, normally causing elimination, but her time of 11.61 seconds was among the ten fastest losing times, which gave her a spot in the second round. There she failed to qualify for the semi-finals as her time of 11.66 was only the seventh time of her heat. Together with

Gloria Kemasuode Gloria E. Kemasuode Ubiebor (born 30 December 1979 in Delta State) is a female track and field sprint athlete, who competes internationally for Nigeria. Kemasuode represented Nigeria at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, competing at ...

, Agnes Osazuwa and

Oludamola Osayomi Oludamola Bolanle ("Damola") Osayomi (born 26 June 1986 in Ilesha, Osun State) is a Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres and 200 metres. She is a four-time gold medallist at the African Championships in Athletics and won an Ol ...

she also took part in the

. In their first round heat they placed fourth behind

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Their time of 43.43 seconds was the best non-directly qualifying time and the sixth time overall out of sixteen participating nations. With this result they qualified for the final in which they replaced Osazuwa with Halimat Ismaila. They sprinted to a time of 43.04 seconds, a third place and a bronze medal behind

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and Belgium. In 2016, the Russian team was disqualified and stripped of their gold medal due to doping violations by one of the Russian runners,

Yuliya Chermoshanskaya Yuliya Igorevna Chermoshanskaya (; born 6 January 1986 in Bryansk, Russian SFSR) is a Russian track and field athlete. She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 4 × 100 metres relay. She is the daughter of former sprinter Galina Malchugina ...

, thereby promoting Nigeria to the silver medal position. Ene Franca Idoko said “It is a great feeling, having a bronze medal before and now silver. She is also excited to be addressed as an Olympics silver medalist.

Achievements

References

External links

Article on return to competition
by Athletics Africa * 1985 births Living people Nigerian female sprinters Olympic athletes for Nigeria Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Nigeria Sportspeople from Benue State Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) African Games silver medalists for Nigeria African Games silver medalists in athletics (track and field) African Games athletes for Nigeria Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games Olympic female sprinters 21st-century Nigerian sportswomen {{Nigeria-athletics-bio-stub