Nwanneka Okwelogu

Nwanneka Mariauchenna "Nikki" Okwelogu (born 5 May 1995) is a Nigerian track and field athlete who competes in the shot put and discus throw events. She was the 2016 discus gold medalist at the African Championships in Athletics. Born in the United States, she set Ivy League records in the throws while at Harvard University.

Career Born in Fresno, California to Nigerian parents, Nikki attended Clovis West High School where she competed in both shot put and discus. She went on to attend Harvard University from 2013 and competed for their Harvard Crimson track team. In her first year there she broke the Ivy League record in the discus with a throw of and set a school record in the shot put at . Her sister Nonny also became an Ivy League thrower, attending Princeton.

The 2014 season saw her first national success with a shot put win at the Nigerian Athletics Championships. Her first medal followed shortly after at the 2014 African Championships in Athletics, where she was narrowly fourth in the shot put but comfortably took the discus silver medal behind Chinwe Okoro. At nineteen years old, she was the youngest entrant in those competitions. She also competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games that summer, ending in ninth.

She improved her bests in the 2015 season, adding more than a meter to her shot put with a throw of and having a discus best of .

Okwelogu established herself among Africa's best throwers at the 2016 African Championships in Athletics by taking the discus gold medal in a personal record of , which helped Nigeria to a sweep of the medals alongside 2014 champion Okoro and Chioma Onyekwere. She also claimed the shot put silver medal behind Cameroon's Auriol Dongmo.

International competitions

National titles Nigerian Athletics Championships Shot put: 2014