Enefiok Udo-Obong leads Saudi Arabia to the 2024 Olympics

Saudi Arabia names Nigerian Olympic gold medalist Enefiok Udo-Obong as Technical Director of the Saudi Arabia Athletics Development Program.

Read also: 2024 OLYMPICS: Britain bets on nine Nigerians to win medals in athletics, boxing and swimming

Udo-Obong will lead Saudi Arabia’s team to the Olympics, which begin on July 26.

The 2000 Sydney Olympic gold medallist will take over the reigns of the kingdom this weekend.

Until this appointment, Enefiok Udo-Obong was the Technical Director of the Lagos State Athletics Association.

He is fondly remembered for the race of his life that saw Nigeria win a gold medal in the 4x100m relay from a losing position.

He will take up the role from this weekend and lead the Kingdom’s team to the Olympic Games in Paris, France, at a time when Nigeria faces the danger of not being able to make it to the Games itself.

Enefiok Udo-Obong (born 22 May 1982), also known as Enee, is a Nigerian sprinter and sportsman. He is the only Nigerian to have won two Olympic medals: a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He is also a writer, speaker, businessman and administrator.

Udo-Obong holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Anatomy from the University of Calabar and an Advanced Master’s degree in Sports Management and Technology from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland.

Udo-Obong won the gold medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2000 Summer Olympics. He also won the bronze medal in the same event at the 2004 Summer Olympics. In 2000, he was voted Sportsman of the Year and won the Dele Udo Award for Sporting Excellence. He has also won the national championships three times and is a six-time medallist at a national sports festival in Nigeria.

Udo-Obong was nominated as one of the 50 most influential young Africans by African Digest in 2002, where he also captained the Nigerian team at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, UK.

Udo-Obong was awarded the Akwa Ibom State Honours Roll and also received the Certificate of Award for Outstanding Contribution to Sports Development in Nigeria.

Udo-Obong is a former board member of the Nigerian Olympic Committee and Chairman of the Athletes Commission. He is also a member of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) Athletes Commission, a member of the Olympians Association of Nigeria, a member of the advisory board of the Atlanta 1996 training centre in Atlanta, a member of the Institute of Registered Exercise Professionals, a member of the International Fitness Association (IFA) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) as well as other international bodies. He is also the President of the Fitness Professionals Association of Nigeria.

Udo-Obong is the author of the motivational book “The Silver Lining: Turning Major Setbacks into Major Victories,” which has sold more than 25,000 copies nationwide.

Udo-Obong was recently appointed as a facilitator by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to train athletes in the Athletes Career Programme (ACP), a programme designed to “help athletes transition to a productive life after their sporting careers.”

Publications

He has written the following books: “The Silver Lining: Turning Big Setbacks into Big Wins” (2006), “The Goldmine: Unleashing the Champion Within You” (2021) and “In the Long Run: The Biggest Race Fiasco” (2023).

Post views: 87