Ella Onojuvwevwo

Ella Onojuvwevwo
Personal information
NationalityNigerian
Born (2005-03-25) 25 March 2005
Sport
SportAthletics
Event
Sprint
College teamLSU Lady Tigers
Achievements and titles
Personal bests200m: 22.56 (Baton Rouge 2026)
400m: 49.47 ( College Station 2026)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Nigeria
African Championships
Gold medal – first place2024 Douala4×400 m relay
Silver medal – second place2022 Saint PierreMixed 4x400 m relay
Silver medal – second place2024 DoualaMixed 4×400 m relay
Bronze medal – third place2022 Saint Pierre4x400 m relay
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place2026 Glasgow400 m
Bronze medal – third place2026 Glasgow4×400m Mixed
World Athletics U20 Championships
Gold medal – first place2021 Nairobi4x400 m relay
Bronze medal – third place2021 NairobiMixed 4x400 m relay

Ella Onojuvwevwo (born 25 March 2005) is a Nigerian sprinter. In 2026, she became the African indoor record holder for the 400 metres and won the bronze medal at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.[1]

Early life

In November 2022, she agreed to join Louisiana State University in the United States.[2]

Career

In 2021, she won gold as part of the women's 4 × 400 m relay and mixed 4 × 400 m relay at the 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi.[3][4]

Onojuvwevwo was a silver medallist at the 2022 African Championships in the mixed 4 × 400 m relay in Mauritius and also won bronze at the championships in the women's 4 × 400 m relay.[5][6] She was part of the Nigerian team that competed in the 400 metres and the 4 × 400 m relay at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, in which they qualified for the final and finished sixth.

Onojuvwevwo ran for Nigeria as part of the 4 × 400 m relay team at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.[7]

In April 2024, she lowered her personal best over 400 metres to 51.32 seconds in Florida.[8]

Onojuvwevwo competed for Nigeria at the 2024 World Athletics Relays in Nassau, Bahamas.[9] With a time of 3:12.87, the Nigerian Mixed 4x400m team of Onojuvwevwo, Samuel Ogazi, Chidi Okezie and Esther Joseph set a new Nigerian national record and African Continental record at the event on 5 May 2024.[10]

The following weekend she lowered her personal best to 50.57 seconds at the SEC championships in Florida. The time met the 2024 Olympic qualifying standard and made her the fastest Nigerian woman since Falilat Ogunkoya ran 50.50s in 2001, and placed her fifth on the Nigerian all-time list.[11]

She competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics over 400 metres in August 2024, reaching the semi-final.[12][13] She also competed in the mixed 4 × 400 m relay at the Games.[14]

She qualified second fastest for the final of the 400 metres at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru, before placing fifth in the final.[15][16]

Competing for Louisiana State University, Onojuvwevwo won the 400 meters final in 50.92 seconds ahead of Dejanea Oakley at the 2026 SEC Indoor Championships.[17] Competing at the 2026 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships in March, Onojuvwevwo ran a new African indoor 400 metres record in the preliminary round, running 50.28 seconds, before placing third in the final in 50.76 seconds behind Oakley and Madison Whyte.[18][19][20]

In 2026, Onojuvwevwo opened her season with a blistering run at the Battle of the Bayou, setting a new 400M personal best of 49.59 seconds.[21] She recorded the fastest Nigerian women’s 400m time since Falilat Ogunkoya in 1998, and became the first Nigerian woman to run sub-50 seconds since 1999.[22] The performance ranks as the 10th fastest 400M NCAA time in history, set a new Louisiana State University (LSU) record, and placed her seventh on the African all-time list and fourth on Nigeria’s all-time performers list.[23]

On 6 June 2026, Onojuvwevwo set a new personal best 49.47 seconds to win the women’s 400 metres at the USATF Lone Star Grand Prix in College Station, Texas.[24] In July, she placed fifth over 400 metres at the 2026 Prefontaine Classic, and won the women's 400 m in 50.38 seconds at the Ed Murphey Classic in Memphis, Tennessee.[25][26] On 1 August, she won the bronze medal in the 400 metres final at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.[27] Later that day also winning the bronze medal in the mixed 4 × 400 m relay.[28][29]

References

  1. ↑ "Ella Onojuvwevwo". World Athletics. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  2. ↑ "Ella Onojuvwevwo joins Ofili at LSU". Sportsnow. 6 November 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  3. ↑ "Top Nigerian NCAA athletes to watch out for in 2023". Pulsports.ng. 4 January 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  4. ↑ "Team Nigeria third in World Athletics U20 with four gold, three bronze". Peoples Gazette. Abuja, Nigeria. 23 August 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  5. ↑ "Mixed 4x400 Metres Relay Final". World Athletics. 8 June 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  6. ↑ "Team Nigeria Review – 2022 African Championships Day 5". Making of Champs. 12 June 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  7. ↑ "Amusan Out As AFN Unveils Team For World Championships". Channelstv. 9 August 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  8. ↑ "Ogazi & Onojuvwevwo blast to PBs at Tom Jones Memorial Classic!". Making of Champs. 14 April 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  9. ↑ "Ofili, Okere made our jons easy in Bahamas says AFN". The Guardian. Lagos, Nigeria. 9 May 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  10. ↑ "Two Nigerian teams qualify for Olympic Games Relays". Premium Times. 5 May 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  11. ↑ "Onojuvwevwo runs fastest 400m by a Nigerian woman since 2001 to qualify for Paris 2024 Olympics!". Making of Champs. 11 May 2024.
  12. ↑ "Women's 400m Hurdles Results – Paris Olympic Games 2024 Athletics". Watch Athletics. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  13. ↑ "AFN lists 35 track-and-field athletes for Olympics". The Punch. 7 July 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  14. ↑ "Mixed 4 x 400 Metres Relay – Paris Olympic Games 2024 Athletics". Watch Athletics. 3 August 2024. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  15. ↑ "Reid and Walaza win world U20 100m titles in Lima". World Athletics. 29 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  16. ↑ "Women's 400m Results – World Athletics Junior U20 Championships 2024". watch athletics. 29 August 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  17. ↑ "ARKANSAS MEN, FLORIDA WOMEN HOIST TROPHIES AT SEC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS". Runnerspace. 1 March 2026. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  18. ↑ "NCAA Indoors: Nigerian star Onojuvwevwo sets African record, tops world list". Premium Times. 14 March 2026. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  19. ↑ Jamaica Observer (14 March 2026). "Dejanea Oakley wins NCAA indoors 400m title". jamaicaobserver.com. Retrieved 15 March 2026.
  20. ↑ "Kaalund and Tharp threaten world records at NCAA Indoor Championships". World Athletics. 14 March 2026. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  21. ↑ Abe, Olamide (4 April 2026). "Onojuvwevwo sets world lead as Ogundiran breaks NAIA record". Punch Newspapers. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  22. ↑ "Nigeria's Ella Onojuvwevwo destroys 27-year record with historic sub-50 run at LSU". Pulse Sports Nigeria. 5 April 2026. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  23. ↑ "Onojuvwevwo Runs World-Leading 49.59 to Shatter LSU 400M Record at Battle on the Bayou". LSU. 4 April 2026. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  24. ↑ Gault, Jonathan (6 June 2026). "Fast 200s highlight Lone Star Grand Prix: Gabby Thomas 21.70 world leader, high schooler Tate Taylor 19.97". Lets Run. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  25. ↑ "JAMAL BRITT AWARDED ON AND OFF THE TRACK WITH HURDLES WIN AT ED MURPHEY CLASSIC". Dyestat. 11 July 2026. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  26. ↑ Johnson, Robert; Gault, Jonathan (4 July 2026). "Fireworks at Pre: Hiltz Stuns Kipyegon, High Schooler Taylor Rips 19.75 on the 4th of July". Lets Run. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  27. ↑ Crumley, Euan. "MATT DENNY'S GOLDEN THROW PUTS HIM IN ELITE COMMONWEALTH COMPANY". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  28. ↑ "XXIII Commonwealth Games". World Athletics. 1 August 2026. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  29. ↑ "Nigeria claims Mixed 4x400m Relay Bronze at Commonwealth Games - P.M. News". Retrieved 6 August 2026.
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