Sports

A Rising Gymnast Star Chinnelle Okpanku Wins 8 Medals In 7ys

Published

5 years ago

December 15, 2021

It’s one thing to be young, and another to be talented and make use of the talent to the benefit of others this is the case of a young, vibrant, energize and promising gymnast Chinnelle Okpanku, whose dream is no other thing but to rule the gymnastics world.

Okpanku is just seven, but she already boasts eight medals from gymnastics competitions and she is thinking of following in the footsteps of her role model American Simone Biles and representing Nigeria at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics when she would be only 10.

“My role model is American Simone Biles and I love everything about her,” Okpanku said in an interview with PUNCH Sports Extra.

“I admire her agility and strength. I watch her videos almost every day and this has really helped me a lot.

“She is young but has won everything in gymnastics with a record 25 world medals and I hope to follow in her footsteps and one day represents Nigeria at the Olympics. I wish to achieve this at the age of 10.”

Okpanku’s meteoric rise as a gymnast has confounded her close followers, having only started physical training last year. The youngster is currently in level 4, a feat that usually takes at least three years to achieve.

“Chinnelle is the top-level 4 gymnast that we have in the country and she only started training last year,” coach Anthony Asuquo told PUNCH Sports Extra.

“She has always trained by herself, watching videos online and that is why her story is very appealing. Within a year, she has gone so far and she grew three places ahead of her level because she is supposed to be in level two having trained for just one year. But now she is going to level five. If you give her another three to five years with consistent training, she is going to go places; the most interesting thing is the fact that she is just seven years of age.”

Never shy of trying new things or taking risks, Okpanku said she was ready to push further despite the challenge of having to combine her academics and gymnastics classes.

“It has not been easy for me though, but I have been doing my best and that’s what I hope to continue to do. My coach has also been very supportive and I can say that he is the best coach in the world.”

Okpanku’s mother, Ijeoma, in a chat with PUNCH Sports Extra talked about how her daughter became a gymnast.

She said, “During their career day, she said she wanted to be a gymnast and she dressed like one. So, we had no choice but to give her the maximum support that she needed.”

The youngster’s mother also opened up on the challenge of combining her academics and sports

Ijeoma added, “It’s been challenging and not easy, but when you know that a child is interested in something, all you need to do is support her.

“When she closes from school by 4pm, I pick her and take her to the stadium for training. It’s not been easy but it is one of the sacrifices we have to make and she just has to combine it with her academics. We make sure that she has her assignments done and ensure that it doesn’t affect her class works.

“Her progress has been very fast and that’s why she is rated the fastest-growing gymnast. She’s been very progressive and doing very well.”

Okpanku is not done yet. At seven and with eight medals to her name, she’s already dreaming of one day surpassing Biles, her model.

“I just turned seven and I already have eight medals – six gold and two silvers – at my level and I hope to one day do better than Biles,” Okpanku said.

PUNCH NEWSPAPER.

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Sports

Plateau Vipers, Benue Queens Crowned Champions at HFN North Central Division One Tourney

Published

5 hours ago

October 3, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The President of the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN), Jibril Seidu, has said the federation will continue to intensify its grassroots talent development drive through zonal competitions across the country.

Seidu stated this on Saturday in Abuja at the finals of the 2026 North Central Division One Handball Championship, where Plateau Vipers defeated Suleja Shooters 29-24 to emerge champions in the men’s category.

In the women’s final, Benue Queens of Makurdi defeated City Queens of Suleja to claim the title.

The eight-day tournament featured teams from across the North Central Zone, with Plateau Vipers of Jos, Confluence Stars of Lokoja, Unity Boys of Abuja, Suleja Shooters and Nasarawa Ambassadors of Lafia competing in the men’s category.

In the women’s category, Nuela Handball Academy of Ilorin, Inikpi Babes of Idah, Benue Queens of Makurdi and City Queens of Suleja competed for honours.

At the end of the competition, four teams — two male and two female — emerged as the North Central Zone’s representatives for the national Division One league.

According to Seidu, the tournament was organised as part of the federation’s deliberate strategy to take handball development back to the regions and discover talents that might otherwise remain unnoticed.

He said the HFN board, inaugurated on October 25, 2025, resolved that grassroots development was essential to creating a sustainable pipeline of players for national and international competitions.

“All the teams you have seen here are from the North Central Zone of the country, and every state is represented with an academy or state team,” he said.

Seidu explained that the new approach marked a departure from the previous system, where talent identification was largely centred on the federation’s major league competitions.

He said taking competitions to the regions would provide young players with greater opportunities to showcase their abilities while strengthening the foundation of handball across the country.

The HFN president also linked the grassroots initiative to Nigeria’s recent achievements in international handball, stressing the need to develop younger players who can eventually replace members of the current national teams.

He noted that Nigeria had qualified for the 2027 Men’s Junior Handball World Championship in North Macedonia, describing the achievement as evidence of the potential within the country’s handball system.

“How do we replace these players with upcoming players? This is the avenue for us to get players,” he said.

Seidu added that the federation was determined to make handball more visible and accessible, describing it as one of Nigeria’s major sporting disciplines with significant potential for growth.

The North Central tournament is part of a wider zonal programme designed to decentralise handball development across Nigeria.

According to the federation, similar competitions are being organised across other zones, including the South East, North East, North West and South South, with qualifiers from each zone expected to converge at a designated venue for the next stage of the competition.

The federation also appealed for greater support from sponsors, stakeholders and state associations to sustain its grassroots development programme.

It expressed appreciation to the participating states, academies, team sponsors and other stakeholders for their support and commitment to the growth of handball in Nigeria.

The federation said the initiative would provide a platform for discovering the next generation of Nigerian handball stars while expanding the sport’s reach beyond its traditional centres.
While Speaking the elated coach of Benue Queen Godwin Tondo has promised a stronger and more tactical performance after guiding the team to victory at the 2026 North Central Division One Handball Championship in Abuja.
He attributed the success to the team’s long-term youth development programme, noting that the squad was built through a deliberate process of identifying and nurturing young talents.
According to him, the programme began with the selection of 92 girls from secondary schools, who were subsequently trained and developed over a four-year period.

He said the team’s success was a product of sustained hard work and commitment despite the challenges encountered during preparations for the tournament.

“I feel very pleased being a champion today. The road to this stage was very, very hard, but I am very happy that we have got the result from all the toughness of the game,” he said.

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