Fred Jessey (born 3 September 1977 in

Yenagoa Yenagoa is a Local Government Area and capital city of Bayelsa State, Southern Nigeria. It is located at the Niger-Delta region of the country at coordinates . The LGA has an area of 706 km2 and an estimated population of 798,466 at 2024. ...

Bayelsa Bayelsa is a state in the South South region of Nigeria, located in the core of the Niger Delta. Bayelsa State was created in 1996 and was carved out from Rivers State, making it one of the newest states in the federation. The capital, Yenagoa, ...

) is a retired amateur Nigerian freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's welterweight category. He represented his nation

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

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 ...

and produced a remarkable tally of four career medals, including a bronze in the 66-kg division at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

Manchester, England Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and a welterweight title at the

2003 All-Africa Games The 8th All Africa Games, also known as Abuja 2003, were held from 5–17 October 2003 in Abuja, Nigeria. 53 countries participated in 23 sports. The main venue was the newly constructed Abuja Stadium. The organizing committee was headed by N ...

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 ...

. Jessey also trained for his native

Bayelsa State Bayelsa is a state in the South South region of Nigeria, located in the core of the Niger Delta. Bayelsa State was created in 1996 and was carved out from Rivers State, making it one of the newest states in the federation. The capital, Yenag ...

's wrestling club under his personal coach Jackson Bidei. Jessey made sporting headlines at the

, where he grappled his way over New Zealand's Ricardo Aryan to clinch the bronze in the 66-kg division. Following his immediate sporting success, Jessey went on to celebrate a boastful victory for the Nigerians, as he beat Algeria's Farid Hanoun for the gold in the same class at the

. At the

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 ...

, Jessey qualified for the Nigerian squad, as a lone wrestler, in the men's welterweight class (66 kg). Earlier in the process, he placed sixth at the Olympic Qualification Tournament in

Sofia, Bulgaria Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, but managed to fill up an entry by the International Federation of Association Wrestling through a tripartite invitation. Jessey lost his opening match 1–3 to South Korea's

Baek Jin-kuk Baek Jin-kuk (, born 31 December 1976) is a Korean former wrestler who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an internat ...

, and then lost to Japan's

Kazuhiko Ikematsu is a male freestyle wrestler from Japan. He won a bronze medal at the 2003 FILA Wrestling World Championships. During the Men's freestyle (66 kg) event at the 2004 Summer Olympics he was ranked on 5th place. He participated in Men's freesty ...

on a pin with a minute remaining; he was ranked penultimate out of 22 wrestlers in the final standings.

References

External links

* 1977 births Living people Olympic wrestlers for Nigeria Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Nigeria Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in wrestling People from Yenagoa Nigerian male sport wrestlers African Games silver medalists in wrestling African Games gold medalists in wrestling African Games gold medalists for Nigeria African Games silver medalists for Nigeria Medalists at the 1999 All-Africa Games Wrestlers at the 2003 All-Africa Games Wrestlers at the 2007 All-Africa Games 20th-century Nigerian people 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Medalists at the 2003 All-Africa Games Medalists at the 2007 All-Africa Games {{Nigeria-wrestling-bio-stub