Chika Chukwumerije country of citizenship Nigeria
Chika Yagazie Chukwumerije (born 30 December 1983) is a male taekwondo practitioner from Nigeria. The son of Nigerian politician Uche Chukwumerije, Chika first drew attention in 2003 during the qualifiers for the 2003 All-Africa Games, where he eventually won a bronze medal in the Heavyweight Male category. He qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, but lost his first bout to Pascal Gentil, the eventual bronze medal winner. Nevertheless, after a period of intensive training that was funded by his father, he became one of Nigeria's best chances for a medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He won a gold medal at the 2007 All-Africa Games in the +80 kg class and qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games soon after. Although he lost to eventual silver-medal winner Alexandros Nikolaidis in the semifinals of the +80kg event, he was entered into the repechage round of the tournament. Here, after defeating Akmal Irgashev of Uzbekistan he claimed a bronze medal in the event, Nigeria's third medal of the tournament. Four years later he competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics, but did not make it past his first bout.Early life
Chukwumerije was born on 30 December 1983 in Nigeria. His father, Uche Chukwumerije, was a national senator and Information Minister of Nigeria. Chika had his primary education at St. Jude's Private School in Festac Town, Lagos and received his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) in Nigeria in 2005. During this time he competed in taekwondo at three University Games held by the Nigerian University Games Association, winning bronze in 2000 and gold in 2002 and 2004. He first became a national champion in 2002 and held the title through 2011, undefeated in nine years.
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