12th October, 2010
Nigerian born English athlete, Abiodun Oyepitan won a Commonwealth Games silver medal in the women’s 200metres at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi.
Oyepitan clocked 23.26 seconds as she finished behind Cydonie Mothersill of the Cayman Islands, who clocked 22.89sec in the final which was delayed due to a protest which saw Elaine O’Neill of Wales come in for the disqualified Eleni Artymata of Cyprus.
Canada’s Adrienne Power went away with the bronze, while Joice Maduaka of England was fourth and Scotland’s Lee McConnell fifth. Maduaka clocked 23.57, McConnell 23.68 and O’Neill 23.88 in finishing eighth.
Oyepitan, is one of the Nigerian born athletes like Christy Ohuruogu and Idowu philips who prefer to represent England in international championships.
Oyepitan was born in Westminster, London to Nigerian parents and represents Shaftsbury Barnet Harriers athletics club. Her first outing to a major athletics competition came at the 1998 World Junior Athletics Championships where she finished fourth as part of the British 4 x 100 m relay team.
She continued to perform well at the junior level, but her progress was interrupted in 2000 by an injury. She managed to bounce back the following year, with her comeback including a silver medal at the European under-23 Championships.
She was again part of the 4 x 100 m relay squad at the 2001 World Championships.
Although the squad came away empty handed, they set the second fastest time ever by a British squad. She went on to take gold at the World Student Games that same year.
2002 saw Oyepitan make the final of the Commonwealth Games 100 m and improve on this in the relay by taking silver behind an Australian team. She also made the final of the European Athletics Championships where Ekaterini Thanou took the gold.
She continued to improve and in 2003 broke her 200 m personal best in taking her first national senior title.
In 2004 she stepped up to hold her own with the best in the world. At a meeting in Kalamata, Greece in May she won the 100 m and then beat the reigning European Champion Muriel Hurtis in the 200m.