UJAH Chijindu

Date of Birth: 5 Mar 1994

Age: 27

Gender: Male

Place of birth: LONDON

Birth Country:

Great Britain

Place of residence : LOUGHBOROUGH

Residence Country:

Great Britain

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Athletics	Men's 100m
	Men's 4 x 100m Relay GBR Great Britain	2

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Olympic Stadium - Track	Men's 100m Round 1 - Heat 7	Finished
	Olympic Stadium - Track	Men's 100m Semi-Final 3	Finished
	Olympic Stadium - Track	Men's 4 x 100m Relay Round 1 - Heat 1	Finished
	Olympic Stadium - Track	Men's 4 x 100m Relay Final	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Olympic Games

Year	Location	100m	4 x 100m
2016	Rio de Janeiro, BRA	SF (10.01)	5th

World Athletics Championships

Year	Location	100m	4 x 100m
2017	London, GBR	SF (10.12)	1st (37.47)
2015	Beijing, CHN	SF (10.05)	7th (DNF)

World Relays

Year	Location	4 x 100m	4 x 200m
2019	Yokohama, JPN	3rd (38.15)	-
2017	Nassau, BAH	6th (DNF)	Heats (DNS)

European Championships

Year	Location	100m	4 x 100m
2018	Berlin, GER	4th (10.06)	1st (37.80)

Diamond League overview - Three best ranks per season and event since 2017

Year	100m
2021	2 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd
2019	1 x 6th, 1 x 11th
2018	1 x 4th, 1 x 6th, 1 x 7th
2017	1 x 1st, 1 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd

Diamond League - Ten best performances since 2020

Rank	Year	Event	Location	Result
1	2017	100m	Zurich, SUI	9.97
2	2021	100m	Gateshead, GBR	10.10
2	2021	100m	Florence, ITA	10.10
2	2017	100m	Oslo, NOR	10.02
3	2021	100m	Stockholm, SWE	10.10
3	2017	100m	Eugene, OR, USA	9.95
4	2018	100m	Shanghai, CHN	10.18
4	2017	100m	Monaco, MON	10.02
6	2019	100m	Oslo, NOR	10.18
6	2018	100m	Rabat, MAR	10.19

World Athletics Continental Tour - Ten best performances since 2020

Rank	Year	Event	Competition	Location	Result
2	2020	100m	World Athletics Continental Tour	Turku, FIN	10.17
4	2021	100m	World Athletics Continental Tour	Walnut, CA, USA	10.03

World Challenge - Ten best performances since 2020

Rank	Year	Event	Competition	Location	Result
2	2019	100m	World Challenge	Hengelo, NED	10.13

World Indoor Championships

Year	Location	60m
2018	Birmingham, GBR	SF (DQ)

Legend
SF - Semifinal, QF - Quarterfinal, 1R - 1st Round, Qual. - Qualification, QR - Qualification Round, DNF - Did Not Finish, DNS - Did Not Start, DQ - Disqualified, NM - No Mark, [Relay athlete without time] - Did not run in final

CJ, Chinji, Unstoppable Ujah (Twitter profile. 14 Jan 2020; Instagram profile, 05 Sep 2019; dailymail.co.uk, 10 Jun 2014)

Occupation:

Exercise Science - Middlesex University, London, GBR

Languages spoken:

Enfield and Haringey AC [Great Britain]

Ryan Freckleton [personal], from 2019

A back injury meant he was unable to compete at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar. (Twitter profile, 05 Sep 2019)

He got into athletics as a teenager in London, England. "Someone noticed I was really good at sports and said, 'Why don't you come down to the local club?' So I came down and I started training with a local coach and then it went from there." (athleticsweekly.com, 24 Nov 2015; TheVoiceNewspaper YouTube Channel, 30 May 2013)

He was inspired to take up the sport by Usain Bolt's performance at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. "I wasn't doing the sport in 2008, but I watched the Olympics and remember Bolt slapping his chest crossing the line in Beijing. I thought, 'Yeah, I want to take up athletics'. The following year I did a few races and then in 2010 I started taking the sport a bit more seriously." (thesun.co.uk, 31 Jul 2017)

To compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (Instagram profile, 01 Sep 2019)

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. (thesun.co.uk, 31 Jul 2017)

Philosophy:

"Winners in life don't always win, they just never give up." (Instagram profile, 06 Sep 2020)

General Interest

General
US TRAINING STINT
In 2018 he spent time training in Arizona, United States of America. The following year he returned to England, where he began working with former coach Jonas Dodoo in Loughborough. "2018 was a big learning year for me. I changed so much, including basing myself in Arizona. It didn't quite work out but I don't have any regrets about trying it." (athleticsweekly.com, 10 May 2019)

CONFIDENCE
In 2015 at age 21 he became the youngest British 100m champion since Mark Lewis-Francis in 2002. "When I was pretty young I used to see famous athletes all the time at meets and people would ask why I wasn't taking pictures of them like everyone else, but I felt I belonged there. I was never fazed by celebrity. I looked up to Asafa Powell as a child but I wouldn't go up to him and ask for a picture, because it's business and I know what I'm capable of. I want to have someone look at me like that. I don't really take being British champion as anything special because I've got to race against the best in the world. I believe in myself. I see myself as being consistent and making sure I'm not a one-hit wonder." (dailymail.co.uk, 23 Jul 2015; express.co.uk, 28 Jun 2014; bbc.com, 05 Jul 2015)

FAMILY
His father is an engineer who moved from Nigeria to England as a boy. Chijindu admits it was difficult convincing his father that a career in athletics was the right choice for him. "I used to play football for my local club and was pretty good. Dad was not too impressed about football and he didn't like the idea of me going pro. When I was doing athletics he thought it was just a hobby, and I set my heart on showing him that it wasn't just a little thing on the side. He got a letter in the post when I was 17 saying I'd been selected for the world youth championships, then it was world juniors the next year, and European juniors after that. Basically I've been on every national team since 2011 so he's come round to the idea. But my family are very focused on education and not sport." (dailymail.co.uk, 23 Jul 2015)

Social Media

Legend

:: Silver Medal
:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos