| Full Name: | Maria Benedicta Chigbolu |
| Nationality: | Italian |
| Sport: | Track and field |
| Event: | Sprint |
| Club: | G.S. Esercito |
| Birth Date: | 1989 7, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Rome, Italy |
| Country: |  Italy |
| Coach: | Maria Chiara Milardi |
| Weight: | 55kg (121lb) |
Maria Benedicta Chigbolu (born 27 July 1989)[1] is an Italian sprinter, who specializes in the 400 metres. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in 4 × 400 m relay.[2]
Maria Chigbolu was born in Rome to an Italian mother and a Nigerian father. She has five siblings. Her grandfather Julius Chigbolu was a Nigerian athlete, who competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics, and later became president of Athletics Federation of Nigeria. She is engaged with the Italian sprinter Matteo Galvan.[3]
Besides medals in the 400 metres and relays from the 2013 and 2018 Mediterranean Games, Chigbolu won a bronze in the individual event at the 2016 European Championships.
She was a member of the 2016 Olympics squad, which set the Italian national record at the 4x400 metres with a time of 3:25.16 sec.
Chigbolu took bronze medals at the 2019 World Relays, and at the 2019 European Team Championships (400 m and).
At the Italian Championships, she won 1 time in the 400 metres (2017), 8 times in the relay, and twice in the indoor relays .
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Mediterranean Games | Mersin, Turkey | bgcolor=silver | 2nd | 400 m | 52.66 | |
| bgcolor=gold | 1st | 3.32.44 | |||||
| World Championships | Moscow, Russia | (final) | 170.6 | ||||
| 2014 | European Championships | Zürich, Switzerland | 7th | 3:31.31 | |||
| 2015 | European Indoor Championships | Prague, Czech Republic | (heats) | 400 m | 54.17 | ||
| World Championships | Beijing, China | (heats) | 400 m | 52.48 | |||
| (heats) | 3:27.07 | SB | |||||
| DécaNation | Paris, France | 5th | 400 m | 52.81 | [4] | ||
| 2016 | European Championships | Amsterdam, Netherlands | (semifinals) | 400 m | 52.69 | ||
| 3rd | 3:27.49 | SB | |||||
| Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | (heats) | 400 m | 52.06 | |||
| 5th | 3.27.05 | (h) | |||||
| 2017 | European Indoor Championships | Belgrade, Serbia | 4th | 3:32.87 | |||
| European Team Championships | Lille, France | 4th | 400 m | 52.36 | |||
| World Championships | London, United Kingdom | (heats) | 400 m | 53.00 | |||
| (heats) | 3:27.81 | SB | |||||
| 2018 | Mediterranean Games | Tarragona, Spain | 3rd | 400 m | 52.14 | ||
| bgcolor=gold | 1st | 3:28.08 | |||||
| European Championships | Berlin, Germany | (semifinals) | 400 m | 52.26 | |||
| 5th | 3:28.62 | ||||||
| 2019 | IAAF World Relays | Yokohama, Japan | 3rd | 3:27.74 | SB | ||
| European Team Championships | Bydgoszcz, Poland | 3rd | 400 m | 52.19 | |||
| 3rd | 3:27.32 | SB | |||||
| World Championships | Doha, Qatar | (heats) | 400 m | 52.63 | |||
| (heats) | 3:27.57 |