All the way from Abuja, 15-year-old Miracle Ezechukwu was part of the Nigerian Tulip International School students that competed at the Ijebu Sprints and Relays, which was put together by women’s 100m hurdles world record holder Tobi and former Nigerian 400m athlete, Abiola Onakoya, at the Otunba Dipo Dina Stadium in Ijebu-Ode in November.
About 500 athletes burned the tracks in 100m, 400m, 4x100m as well as 4x400m relays in two days and the dominance of Ezechukwu and her counterparts from Abuja wowed the crowd.
She won the Most Valuable Athlete of the meet with three gold medals (one individual and two from relays) as her school also emerged best among 34 secondary schools with three gold medals, two silver and one bronze medals.
Among her three gold medals at the Ijebu Sprints and Relays, she was exceedingly faster than the other athletes in the girl’s 100m, finishing well ahead of her competitors while she also brought her prowess into play during the two relays she anchored.
The Anambra-born athlete revealed how she won a scholarship to become a student at the Nigerian Tulip International School, Abuja.
“I’ve been in Abuja for two years now. My journey to Abuja began in 2019 during the National Youth Games in Ilorin. Although I finished third and fourth in the girls’ 100m and 200m respectively, I still got a scholarship from the school in Abuja,
“Before representing my state, I started running when I was in primary school and also for my secondary school in Amase during inter-house sports,” she added.
She was just 11 and in junior secondary school one when she competed at the National Youth Games in 2019 and what drew attention to her was her small frame among other athletes.
Having spent four years in Abuja already, she only visits her family in Anambra on selected holidays.
“We train two and half hours from Monday to Friday and that keeps me focused even though I miss my family, especially my mom. It’s been very tough to cope but I am focused on making my life better through this scholarship because I get everything I want to become great from the school,” she said.