en Maria Benedicta Chigbolu

Maria Benedicta Chigbolu
	Maria Chigbolu in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Maria Benedicta Chigbolu
Nationality	Italian
Born	27 July 1989 (age 35); Rome, Italy
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Weight	55 kg (121 lb)
Sport
Country	Italy
Sport	Track and field
Event	Sprint
Club	G.S. Esercito
Coached by	Maria Chiara Milardi
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	400 m: 51.67 (2015); 4x400 m: 3:25.16 (2016, NR);
Medal record
European Championships
IAAF World Relays
European Team Championships
Mediterranean Games

Maria Benedicta Chigbolu (born 27 July 1989)^[1] is an Italian sprinter, who specializes in the 400 metres. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in 4 × 400 m relay.^[2]

Biography

Maria Chigbolu was born in Rome to an Italian mother and a Nigerian father. She has five siblings. Her grandfather Julius Chigbolu was a Nigerian athlete, who competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics, and later became president of Athletics Federation of Nigeria.^[1] She is engaged with the Italian sprinter Matteo Galvan.^[3]

Career

Besides medals in the 400 metres and 4 × 400 m relays from the 2013 and 2018 Mediterranean Games, Chigbolu won a bronze in the individual event at the 2016 European Championships.

She was a member of the 2016 Olympics squad, which set the Italian national record at the 4x400 metres with a time of 3:25.16 sec.

Chigbolu took bronze medals at the 2019 World Relays (4 × 400 m), and at the 2019 European Team Championships (400 m and 4 × 400 m).

At the Italian Championships, she won 1 time in the 400 metres (2017), 8 times in the 4 × 400 m relay, and twice in the indoor relays (4 × 200 m, 4 × 400 m).

Achievements

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Time	Notes
2013	Mediterranean Games	Mersin, Turkey	2nd	400 m	52.66	PB
	Mediterranean Games	Mersin, Turkey	1st	4 × 400 m	3.32.44	SB
	World Championships	Moscow, Russia	DQ (final)	4 × 400 m	DQ	170.6^{[n 1]}
2014	European Championships	Zürich, Switzerland	7th	4 × 400 m	3:31.31	^{[n 2]}
2015	European Indoor Championships	Prague, Czech Republic	(heats)	400 m	54.17
	World Championships	Beijing, China	(heats)	400 m	52.48
	World Championships	Beijing, China	(heats)	4 × 400 m	3:27.07	SB
	DécaNation	Paris, France	5th	400 m	52.81	^[4]
2016	European Championships	Amsterdam, Netherlands	(semifinals)	400 m	52.69
	European Championships	Amsterdam, Netherlands	3rd	4 × 400 m	3:27.49	SB
	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	(heats)	400 m	52.06
	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	5th	4 × 400 m	3.27.05	(NR h^{[n 3]})
2017	European Indoor Championships	Belgrade, Serbia	4th	4 × 400 m	3:32.87
	European Team Championships	Lille, France	4th	400 m	52.36
	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	(heats)	400 m	53.00
	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	(heats)	4 × 400 m	3:27.81	SB
2018	Mediterranean Games	Tarragona, Spain	3rd	400 m	52.14
	Mediterranean Games	Tarragona, Spain	1st	4 × 400 m	3:28.08	GR
	European Championships	Berlin, Germany	(semifinals)	400 m	52.26	^{[n 4]}
	European Championships	Berlin, Germany	5th	4 × 400 m	3:28.62
2019	IAAF World Relays	Yokohama, Japan	3rd	4 × 400 m	3:27.74	SB
	European Team Championships	Bydgoszcz, Poland	3rd	400 m	52.19
	European Team Championships	Bydgoszcz, Poland	3rd	4 × 400 m	3:27.32	SB
	World Championships	Doha, Qatar	(heats)	400 m	52.63
	World Championships	Doha, Qatar	(heats)	4 × 400 m	3:27.57

^ Finishing the race without the baton
^ Time from the heats; Chigbolu was replaced in the final
^ Italian squad set the national record in the heats with a time of 3:25.16 sec. It would have been 3rd result in the final
^ Chigbolu clocked season's best time of 51.76 sec in the heats

National individual competitions

Italian Championships
- 400 m: (1) 2017

References

^ ^a ^b "Maria Benedicta Chigbolu". Fidal.it (in Italian). FIDAL. 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
^ "Athletics - CHIGBOLU Maria Benedicta". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 2021-09-29. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
^ FQ (2018-07-02). "Giochi del Mediterraneo, chi sono le ragazze medaglia d'oro nella staffetta 4×400 diventate un simbolo sui social". il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). Retrieved 2018-07-03. Reclutata nell'Esercito, ora si allena a Rieti ed è fidanzata con un quattrocentista, Matteo Galvan.
^ "DécaNation 2015 – Results". bases.athle.fr (in French). French Athletics Federation. Retrieved 2021-06-18.

External links

Maria Benedicta Chigbolu at World Athletics
Maria Benedicta Chigbolu at Diamond League
Maria Benedicta Chigbolu at the Italian Athletics Federation (in Italian)
Maria Benedicta Chigbolu at the Italian National Olympic Committee (in Italian)
Maria Benedicta Chigbolu at Olympedia

[4] Finishing the race without the baton

[5] Time from the heats; Chigbolu was replaced in the final

[7] Italian squad set the national record in the heats with a time of 3:25.16 sec. It would have been 3rd result in the final

[8] Chigbolu clocked season's best time of 51.76 sec in the heats

[:0-1] "Maria Benedicta Chigbolu". Fidal.it (in Italian). FIDAL. 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-17.

[2] "Athletics - CHIGBOLU Maria Benedicta". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 2021-09-29. Retrieved 2021-09-19.

[3] FQ (2018-07-02). "Giochi del Mediterraneo, chi sono le ragazze medaglia d'oro nella staffetta 4×400 diventate un simbolo sui social". il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). Retrieved 2018-07-03. Reclutata nell'Esercito, ora si allena a Rieti ed è fidanzata con un quattrocentista, Matteo Galvan.

[6] "DécaNation 2015 – Results". bases.athle.fr (in French). French Athletics Federation. Retrieved 2021-06-18.

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Maria Benedicta Chigbolu