Chijindu Ujah


Chijindu "CJ" Ujah is a British athlete, specialising as a sprinter. The lead-off runner of the Great Britain 4 x 100 metre relay team that won both the World title in 2017 and the European title in 2016 and 2018, he also won the title in the 100 metres at the 2017 Diamond League final.

Early life and education

Chijindu Ujah was born in Enfield, London, into a family who are originally from Nigeria. He grew up in Enfield and has one older sibling. Alongside his brother he attended Bishop Stopford's School and an ex pupil at St Matthews CE Primary School
. Chijindu went on to study at Sir George Monoux College, a sixth form college in Walthamstow, where he took up Science and Maths. He is currently a sport science student at Middlesex University in London.

Career

Ujah is the fifth British sprinter to break 10 seconds for the 100 metres, and the youngest to do so, as of June 2014 he is ranked first on the all-time European under-20 list, and third on both the all-time British list and the all-time European under-23 list for the event with a fastest time of 9.96, achieved at Hengelo, Netherlands on 8 June 2014.
He is coached by Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo.
In 2013, he became the European Junior Champion in the 100 m.
At youth level, Ujah won the silver medal over 100 metres at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games He also finished 8th in the IAAF World Youth Games 100 m. In 2012, he came 6th in the IAAF World Junior Championships 100 m.
On 14 February 2015, Chijindu Ujah won the Sainsbury's Indoor British Championships 60 m with a time of 6.57 seconds.
At the 2016 Summer Olympics from Rio de Janeiro, he failed to make the final of the 100 metres by 0.01 seconds.
He ran the first leg in the 4 × 100 metres relay for Great Britain, the gold medal winning team at the 2017 World Championships in London on 12 August. Two weeks later, he won his first global individual title, winning the 2017 IAAF Diamond League title over 100 metres in 9.97 seconds.