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Adegboyega Folaranmi Adedoyin

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Adegboyega Adedoyin
Adedoyin high jumping
Personal information
NationalityNigerian
Born11 September 1922
Shagamu, Ogun, Nigeria
Died31 January 2014 (aged 91)
Abeokuta, Ogun, Nigeria
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight66 kg (146 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
Eventhigh jump/long jump
ClubQueen's University Belfast AC

Omoba Adegboyega Folaranmi Adedoyin, M.D. (11 September 1922 – 31 January 2014) was a Nigerian-born high jumper and long jumper, who became the first Nigerian to compete in an Olympics final in 1948, when representing Great Britain.[1]

Personal life

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He was born in Sagamu, Ogun, Nigeria, the second son of the Akarigbo, or king, of the Remo people, William Adedoyin.[2] He came to the United Kingdom in 1942 to study at Queen's University of Belfast, where he graduated in medicine in 1949.[3]

Athletics career

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He won the 1947 AAA Championships at the White City Stadium in the high jump with a clearance of 1.93 metres.[4][5][6] Adedoyin featured in a 1947 newsreel by Pathé News focusing on university sports. In the footage, he is described as 'a good bet to represent Britain at the Olympic Games'.[7]

He went on to compete for the Great Britain team in the 1948 Summer Olympics, both in the high jump and the long jump. In the high jump, on 30 July, he qualified for the final, as one of 20 competitors who made it past the qualifying round, where a height of 1.87 metres was needed to qualify.[8] The sheer number of competitors in the high jump meant that the event seemed endless.[9] In the final he jumped 1.90 metres on his third attempt to come twelfth – if he had cleared it on his first attempt he could have finished as high as sixth.[8] A day later in the long jump, he qualified by virtue of placing in the top twelve in the qualifying round as less than twelve athletes reached the qualifying distance of 7.20 metres, with only five reaching it in the final.[8] Adedoyin was one of these, placing fifth with a jump of 7.27 metres.[10]

His personal best jumps were 1.969 metres in the high jump (1949) and 7.35 metres in the long jump (1947).[2]

Life after athletics

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After the Olympics, he went back to Nigeria to practise as an obstetrician-gynaecologist.[11]

He died on 31 January 2014.[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "London'll bless Okagbare – Kalu – Vanguard News". Vanguard News. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  2. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Adegboyega, Prince Adedoyin". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  3. ^ "London'll bless Okagbare – Kalu – Vanguard News". Vanguard News. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  4. ^ "Great run follows air-taxi dash". Daily News (London). 19 July 1947. Retrieved 9 April 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Army man steals limelight and 2 titles". Daily News (London). 21 July 1947. Retrieved 9 April 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "British Athletics Championships 1945–1959". GBR Athletics. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  7. ^ "University Athletic Union Aka Pathe Front Page (1947)". youtube.com. 13 April 2014.
  8. ^ a b c London 1948 Results (PDF). LA84 Foundation. 1948. pp. 266–267.
  9. ^ "Athletics at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's High Jump". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  10. ^ "Athletics at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's Long Jump". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  11. ^ "Fellows Dues" (PDF). npmcn.edu.ng. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  12. ^ "Adegboyega Folaranmi Adedoyin's obituary". punchng.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014.
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