Joy Udo-Gabriel Biography

Joy Udo-Gabriel is a Nigerian sprinter. At the 2018 African Championships, she won a bronze medal in the 100 metres. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, she won a bronze medal in the 4 x 100-meter relay. At the 2019 African Games, she won a gold medal in the 4 x 100-meter relay. She also won a gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the 4 x 100-meter relay.

Full Name	Joy Chinenye Udo-Gabriel
Date of Birth	2 June 1999
Nationality	Nigerian
State of Origin	Abia State, Nigeria
Place of Birth	Lagos State, Nigeria
Sport	Athletics
Coach	Feyi Shayo Daramola Udoh
Net Worth	Unavailable
Social Media Handles	Twitter: @JoyUdoGabriel

Early Life and Education

Joy Udo-Gabriel was born in Lagos State, Nigeria on June 2, 1999. She had her primary and secondary school education in Lagos State, Nigeria, before proceeding to Lagos State University for her tertiary education.

Since becoming the fastest schoolgirl in Lagos State in 2015 at 16, Joy Udo-Gabriel has dominated the track. When asked how she planned to moderate her education and athletics, she famously replied, “The race is for the legs and the law is for the intellect!” She was found at the Benin Auditions of the Top Sprinter Reality Show produced by Making of Champions (MoC).

Career

Joy started competing in her first National Senior Trials in the year 2016. Udo-Gabriel competed in her first competition as an MoC athlete at the 2016 National Junior Championships, where she won her heat. Her outstanding performance earned her the MoC Student-Athlete Scholarship, sponsored by the oil and gas company ARCO Group. Later that month, at the AFN/MoC National U-20 Championship, she won silver in the 100 and 200 metres.

2018 marked a turning point in Udo-Gabriel’s career as she competed for Nigeria for the first time at the Commonwealth Games in Australia. She ran a Personal Best (PB) of 11.42s in the 100m to qualify for the semifinals on her debut for Nigeria and then ran an outstanding lead leg to win the 4x100m Bronze with a time of 42.75s, which was her first-ever medal for Nigeria. In what was a breakthrough year for her, Udo-Gabriel added seven additional international medals for Nigeria in 2018. She was the top female athlete at the 2018 ECOWAS (West African) U-20 Championships in Cape Coast, winning the 100-meter and 200-meter sprint double and the 4×100-meter silver medal.

At her first African Senior Championships in Asaba in 2018, the rising star won the 100-meter bronze medal and the 4×100-meter gold medal. Udo-Gabriel continued her international success by winning the 4x100m silver while competing for the University of Lagos at the 2018 West Africa University Games (WAUG) in Port Harcourt.

At her maiden National Sports Festival (NSF) in Abuja in 2018, Udo-Gabriel also won the 100m Bronze, capping off the year with winning Discovery of the Year at the Nigerian Sports Awards. She then went on to shine for Nigeria at the 2019 World Relays in Japan, winning the 4x100m gold at the 2019 African Games in Rabat while also placing third in the 100-meter dash. She also earned her World Championships debut in the 4x100m at the 2019 Doha Games, finishing off her rapid ascent to becoming a regular member of Nigeria’s senior team at just 20.

Udo-Gabriel won 16 of 22 events in the 100 and 200 metres in 2019, across the globe, including while competing for MoC Track Club in meets in Southern Africa (Botswana) and Europe (Italy). Udo-Gabriel hopes to qualify for the Olympics in 2021 and represent Nigeria there. She also won a gold medal in the 4 x 100m relay at the 2022 Commonwealth Games alongside Ofili Favour, Chukwuma Rosemary, Nwokocha Nzubechi Grace, and Tobi Amusan.

Honours

1 x Commonwealth Games winner
1 x In the Top 8 at the World Championships
1 x All-African Games winner
1 x Commonwealth Games Bronze medallist

2018

Commonwealth Games 4x100m Bronze Medallist
African Senior 100m Bronze Medallist & 4x100m Champion
West African (ECOWAS) U-20 100m/200m Champion & 4x100m Silver Medallist
West African University Games (WAUG) 100m Champion & 4x100m Silver Medallist
The National Sports Festival 100m Bronze Medallist
National U-20 100m Champion & 200m Silver Medallist
Nigeria Sports Awards: Discovery of the Year 2018

2017

AFN/MoC National Junior (U20) 100m & 200m Silver Medallist

2016

Top Sprinter/Lagos Relays Women’s 4x100m Champion
Top Sprinter Junior 100 and 200m Champion
Eko Athletics Grand Prix, 100 m Bronze Medallist
AFN Golden League B Final 100m Winner

2015

Top Sprinter Benin Auditions 100m Winner
Lagos State Schools Sports Festival 100m Champion

2014

National Schools Sports Festival 100m Silver Medallist
National Schools Sports Festival 4x100m Champion

Personal Bests

100 metres–11.34 (+0.3 m/s,Yaba Tech MOC Grand Prix 2021)
200 metres–23.92 (-0.8 m/s, Yabatech MOC Grand Prix 2021)

Competition Record

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
2018	Commonwealth Games	Gold Coast, Australia	9th (sf)	100 m	11.53
2018	Commonwealth Games	Gold Coast, Australia	3rd	4 × 100 m relay	42.75
2018	African Championships	Asaba, Nigeria	3rd	100 m	11.58
2018	African Championships	Asaba, Nigeria	1st	4 × 100 m relay	43.77
2019	World Relays	Yokohama, Japan	17th (h)	4 × 100 m relay	45.07
2019	African Games	Rabat, Morocco	4th	100 m	11.44
2019	African Games	Rabat, Morocco	1st	4 × 100 m relay	44.16
2019	World Championships	Doha, Qatar	10th (h)	4 × 100 m relay	43.05