EKE Uche

General
REPRESENTING NIGERIA
Born in Maryland, United States of America, to a Nigerian father and a US mother, he began competing for Nigeria in 2017. "My dad is from Nigeria, my mother is from New Orleans. So, I've been coming to Nigeria ever since I was three, two times every year. Every time like I wake up in the morning, my dad always inspires me, gives me all these speeches about Nigeria, how great it is. So, I just want to come and represent my home country." (thesourceng.com, 19 May 2021; olympics.com, 02 Jan 2021; BBC News Africa Facebook page, 13 May 2021; headtopics.com, 29 Aug 2019; thisdaylive.com, 30 Dec 2018; Arise News YouTube channel, 24 Dec 2018)

FURTHER EDUCATION
After obtaining a bachelor's degree in computer science and engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America, in 2019, he went straight into a master's in software engineering and program management at the same university. He graduated in May 2021. "My end goal isn't for me to be a hardcore programmer. I love to talk to people, I love to express my feelings for programming and to break it down to people. I like to create that shared understanding, because I have high technical skills from computer engineering and then within the MSI [master's of science in information] degree I'll have the program management skills, the UX front-end skills and conversational skills. I also wanted something different. I already have an engineering degree. I don't like sitting there learning the same thing over and over. I like being brought new knowledge, so MSI fit perfectly with me." (uchedeke.com, 01 Jun 2021; si.umich.edu, 27 May 2021)

FUTURE PLANS
He plans to take a break from the sport in 2022. "Starting January 2022, I want to be working with my degree because I really do love programming and project management, so I want to use my skills as much as I can. I want to do software engineering and mobile app development. I know that I'm ready to start life. I'm just saying 'life' because it's a whole different lifestyle. If I qualify and compete in the Olympics, I will most likely go to the world championships. But there needs to be a point where I know that I'm done, and I want to leave that legacy that if I can do it, everyone can." (si.umich.edu, 27 May 2021)

FAMILY SUPPORT
His family was affected by Hurricane Katrina that struck New Orleans, LA, United States of America, in 2005. His older brother sacrificed his career in American football so that Uche could still pursue gymnastics. "A bunch of my family [from New Orleans] moved up to stay with us in Maryland. So, either he had to quit or I had to quit my sport. My brother looked at me in the eye and said, 'Uche, I'm going to quit this sport, but this means you can never quit gymnastics'. So, I was like, 'Alright, man. I'm going to take this to the top for you'." (olympics.com, 02 Jan 2021)