Christine Ohuruogu, MBE, is a current World and former Olympic and Commonwealth Champion. As a well-known face from Britain’s own roster of athletic talents, she specialises in the 400 metres and has delivered many thrilling and rousing performances. Her popularity soared after winning a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics and she achieved what most athletes only dream of – winning an Olympic medal on home soil.
Ohuruogu was born in east London to Igbo-Nigerian parents and, in a rather poetic twist, was raised less than a mile from where the London Olympic Stadium ended up being built for the 2012 Olympics Games. She competed in athletics whilst studying linguistics at the prestigious University College London and later graduated in 2005. When at the university, she also developed her sporting abilities in netball and went on to compete at the London Youth Games in both netball and athletics. After having left university, she would later be inducted into the London Youth Games Hall of Fame four years later. It was also in this same year that, not only was she given the title of MBE in the 2009 New Year Honours, but was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of East London.
Ohuruogu has enjoyed a long and successful athletics career and has an impressive track record. In her early days, she received bronze in her signature event of 400 metres at the European Junior Championships in 2003, and reached the semi-finals of the 400 metre relay race in the following year at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, with her team finishing in fourth place. A year later, Ohuruogu placed second at the European Junior Championships, missing out on gold by a miniscule hundredth of a second. That year, she would also take home a silver medal in their 400 metre relay. Again in the same year, Ohuruogu would win bronze at the World Championships in Athletics for her performance in the women’s four-person 400 metre relay alongside Lee McConnell, Donna Fraser and Nicola Sanders.
At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Ohuruogu achieved a personal best of 50.28 seconds in the 400 metres and finally took home gold. Her next performance at the 2007 Athletic World Championships in Osaka set her apart from the competition even further after she won another gold seemingly with ease, placing first in her initial heat, the semi-final and final. This win saw her become World Champion, however she was still held as no. 2 in the world rankings behind fellow athlete, Sanya Richards, due to her yearly record being lower. Christine went on to beat Sanya Richards at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after winning yet another gold and, despite still being ranked below Richards after this, she had proven her ability to outshine the biggest competitors on the biggest stage of all.
Ohuruogu set personal bests in 2009 during her training for the European Indoor Championships in Torino and competed to a very high standard in both the semi-final and final of the World Championships that year. Despite not defending her title at the London 2012 Olympic Games, she won an impressive silver medal and later went on to win a second World Title in the summer of 2013, becoming the only woman to have ever achieved this feat. The accolade was won during the Moscow 400 metre final and cinched with a late surge that was determined by a close and exciting photo finish.
Despite all of her great success on the international stage, Ohuruogu still remains a member of her local sporting club, the Newham and Essex Beagles Athletics Club. She is also the author of a series of children’s books called “Camp Gold” about a budding young athlete who is able to enrol in an elite sports academy. Ohuruogu said that she “wanted to focus on getting young girls doing sport.” Ohuruogu’s passion for athletics and her ambition to affect change are both key driving forces that have led to her success. As well as continuing to compete, she now shares her experience and athletic expertise as an after dinner speaker.
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