Chinwe Okoro (born 20 June 1989) is a Nigerian track and field athlete who competes in the shot put and the discus throw. She is a three-time African champion and holds the Nigerian record for the discus throw at .[1]
Okoro grew up in Kentucky, attending high school in Russell, and holds dual Nigerian-American citizenship. She attended the University of Louisville and combined athletics and academics as a student-athlete. She won the American junior title in the shot put in 2008 and was an NCAA All-American in 2011. Her high marks in her physical therapy studies made her a five-time Big East Conference All-Academic, and she later won the Michael Hale Scholarship to continue with her studies via a doctorate at Bellarmine University.[2] [3]
Her first international competition came at the 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics, where she finished tenth in the shot put.[4] Her first senior medals followed at the 2012 African Championships in Athletics, where she won the discus throw and was runner-up to Vivian Chukwuemeka in the shot put in a Nigerian medal sweep. Chukwuemeka was later disqualified for doping, however, elevating Okoro to double throws champion at the event.[5] [6] [7]
Okoro missed the 2013 season but returned improved the year after and successfully defended her discus title at the 2014 African Championships in Athletics with a championship record and personal best throw of . She was again runner-up in the shot put, with Cameroon's Auriol Dongmo Mekemnang being the women's champion on that occasion.[8] [9] She represented Africa in both throws events at the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup, held a month later at the same venue in Marrakesh, and was sixth in shot put and seventh in discus.[4]
Okoro qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics with a throw of 61.58. She represented Nigeria in the discus throw and finished 14th out of 34.
2008 | World Junior Championships | Bydgoszcz, Poland | 10th | Shot put | 15.18 m | ||
2012 | African Championships | Porto Novo, Benin | bgcolor=gold | 1st | Shot put | 16.21 m | |
bgcolor=gold | 1st | Discus throw | 56.60 m | ||||
2014 | African Championships | Marrakesh, Morocco | bgcolor=silver | 2nd | Shot put | 16.40 m | |
bgcolor=gold | 1st | Discus throw | 59.79 m | ||||
IAAF Continental Cup | Marrakesh, Morocco | 6th | Shot put | 16.35 m | |||
7th | Discus throw | 52.30 m | |||||
2016 | Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 14th (q) | Discus throw | 58.85 m | ||
2018 | African Championships | Asaba, Nigeria | bgcolor=silver | 2nd | Discus throw | 57.37 m |