Chierika Ukogu made history as the first Nigerian athlete to compete for the Rowing event at the Olympic games. The American born Nigerian professional rower has gone further to make Nigeria proud by qualifying for the quarter finals at this year’s games in Rio. Here are some things to know about the impressive lady:

She was born in USA

The professional rower was born in Pennsylvania, USA after her parents migrated from Nigeria. She was born on October 2, 1992 making her 23 years of age.

She is a graduate of Stanford University

Chierika Ukogu’s alma mater is Stanford University, USA where she studied pre-med and rowed for Stanford’s women’s crew team till her graduation in 2014.

She plans to continue school after the Olympics

Chierika put her dreams of going to medical school on hold. However, she plans to continue her studies in medicine as Ukogu is scheduled to fly back to USA just two days after racing. She is to begin medical school at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City.

She single-handedly created Nigeria’s rowing team

Due to a lack of infrastructure, Chierika not only had to be selected for the team for Rio 2016 but also had to fund herself. She started a gofundme campaign in 2015 and successfully raised over $12, 000 to get herself equipped and transported to Rio, Brazil.

Her nickname is Coco

She is fondly known to many by the nickname Coco by teammates, family and friends.

SOURCE:www.gistcart.com