Annette Echikunwoke has come a long way since she started her athletic career at Pickerington North High School. The Nigerian American qualified for the 2020 Olympics and holds the African record for longest hammer throw. But her early days in sports were a little shaky.
“I started off on the basketball team in, like, the seventh or eighth grade, and I quickly realized I was very uncoordinated,” Echikunwoke says.
Though she may have been unbalanced on the basketball court, Echikunwoke soon found a space – and a team – that suited her perfectly. And it was thanks to her gym class at Pickerington North.
“We had those track and field days you would have in gym class, and I would always do well in the throwing,” she says. “So, in eighth grade, I decided to try throwing on the team, and it’s been up ever since.”
After she graduated from high school, where she participated in shotput and discus throwing, she began her career in hammer throwing at the University of Cincinnati. There, she won the NCAA National Championship for indoor weight throw as a junior in 2017. She’s one of only six women to throw more than 24 meters, with her best throw ranking the second farthest in NCAA history.
A few years later, Echikunwoke qualified for the Nigerian track and field team in the 2020 Olympics, branded 2020one because it was delayed to 2021 due to COVID-19, in hammer throwing. She certainly earned her spot on the Nigerian Olympic team after setting four successive Nigerian and African records for the hammer throw during the USA Track & Field event.
However, an error by the African Federation of Nigeria (AFN) relating to drug testing led to Echikunwoke and 10 of her teammates being ineligible to compete. The AFN released a statement taking “responsibility for any lapses that may have occurred.” Still, the athletes were barred from the 2020 Olympics.
The AFN’s statement didn’t soften the blow for Echikunwoke.
“On my 25th birthday, I was officially informed that I cannot compete at the Tokyo 2020ne Olympics due to the negligence of the federation I was set to compete for,” she posted on Instagram at the time. “I can’t even begin to explain how heartbroken I am. … This has been the most mentally and emotionally exhausting time of my life.”
However, that didn’t stop Echikunwoke. She continues to train six days a week in the hopes of acquiring an Olympic gold medal.
That unrelenting drive traces back to PNHS, where coaches encouraged Echikunwoke to strive to reach her potential.
“I would go to the weight room at North and thank God for (then-track and field) coach (Jim) Langenderfer and (boys throwing) coach (Joe) Whitcraft, I would hit them up and be like, “Hey, can I come use the weight room?’” she says. “It’s pretty stacked for a high school weight room, and I could always do my workouts.”
She retains fond memories of hanging out in Olde Pickerington Village and downtown Pickerington with her friends and going to the Fourth of July celebration in Victory Park.
“Living in Pickerington was honestly more of a positive experience than a negative one,” she says. “The high school was decently diverse. I was always in a group of people that were different and had different backgrounds.”
She still feels supported by the Pickerington community, even as she’s moved to competing on collegiate and international stages.
“Pickerington is very behind their people, I’ve seen that all the time,” Echikunwoke says. “Obviously, with sports like football and basketball, it’s easy to see their players and things like that, but I’m a thrower. … But Pickerington is still very much behind me to this day and has supported me up until this point. So, I think they really rally behind their people, ultimately, and that’s really awesome to see.”
Currently, Echikunwoke is ranked No. 18 in the world in the women’s hammer throw.
Fit Five: Annette Echikunwoke shares her wellness habits
Are there any foods you try to avoid or emphasize?
I’m dairy-free and I’m not a red meat fanatic, so I don’t really like to eat red meat. I think everything else is good in moderation for me.
What are your favorite ways to stay active?
I train every day really, but I like taking walks with friends, talking about life and whatnot.
What do you like to do to relax?
I like to relax by hanging out with friends and family. I go back to Pickerington and see my
family as much as I can. They’re really the bedrock of my support system, as well as my friends. But in my free time I like to read. I’ve been really into audiobooks lately, because I feel like I don’t have as much time to sit down and read because I’m in (training) season now. And I’ve surprisingly been into reality TV shows like The Ultimatum.
What are your favorite exercises?
Outside of walking, I lift really heavy and I sprint. I’m pretty active in that, so I can avoid taking the stairs. I know people will look at me and they’re like, “Oh, you’re an athlete.” I use my legs when I need to. I try to be efficient in their use.
Where’s your favorite hammer throwing spot?
Looking back at my competitions last year, my favorite was Tucson Elite (Classic) meet, which was in Arizona. It was my favorite because I got to compete against girls who were professional as well. That’s also where I threw the Olympic standard, or beyond it at least. So that was really exciting, getting to compete with people at that level and doing well, too.
Mariah Muhammad is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
