[size=14pt]HURRAH! Nigeria's Pat Itanyi walks with West Virginia legends[/size]
Monday, September 26, 2011


By Ben Efe

Former Africa's heptathlon champion and current Nigeria's record holder, Patience Itanyi is walking tall after she has been listed for induction into the University of West Virginia sports Hall of Fame.



Pat Itanyi




Itanyi is the first female track and field athlete to be listed into the WVU achievers' roaster. Also, she is the third woman to be inducted into the Hall of Fame after Georgeann Wells and Cathy Parson both who played basketball.


On October 8, 2011, Itanyi and five others will be honoured and no doubt this is something an athlete will cherish all her life. It is deserving coming to Itanyi who distinguished herself as an athlete and now a coach in same university.

Itanyi spoke this way: "Hall of Fame is a big thing here in America. It is quite a thrill, a great recognition and a great honour.

"I feel that I have been rewarded for something that I like to do. I give thanks to God. Someone paid for me to come to America to study. This was something my parents couldn't have afforded.

"I feel so honoured going into the Hall of fame. To be included in the same category with famous athletes like Jerry West makes me feel so good. West was a famous basketball player and coach with LA Lakers." Itanyi was getting emotional and her voice sounded so. She looked back to her beginning in Nigeria and thought about those coming up today.

"This is why I tell the kids coming behind that education is the most important thing they can have. If sports presents to you this kind of opportunity you have to take full advantage of it. Get the education while you do your sports. It is good to have options when you are longer active in sports. Sports has a short life span but education will be there for you. Take the advantage that sports provides. If you have education, you can continue with sports at even a higher level. If you can't, there will be option for you as an educated athlete. I wish that more Nigerians could take to sports."

Itanyi will become the second Nigerian to enter the WVU sports Hall of Fame. The first was Joe Okhaku, a soccer player who died in 2001.

Itanyi was a real gladiator in the track and field. She was the first ever female track and field national champion at WVU. She established six schools records (four of which are still standing to date) between 1995 and 97. In 1998 Itanyi won the African championships in Dakar, Senegal. This was after coming back from injury, which denied her an appearance at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta' USA.

In 1999 Itanyi narrowly missed the gold at the All Africa Games in Johannesburg. She settled for silver as home girl, Maralize Fouché clinched the gold with 5631 to Itanyi's 5,565 points.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/hurrah-nigeria%E2%80%99s-pat-itanyi-walks-with-west-virginia-legends/

Congrats to Pat. She is a wonderful mom, a great lady, a wonderful coach and she is a member of our organization www.NIAAUSA.ORG