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Francis Obikwelu

Francis Obiora Obikwelu is a retired Nigerian-born Portuguese sprinter, who specialized in 100 metres and 200 metres. Born in Onitsha, Obikwelu holds the record for the fastest time in the 100m set by a European competitor with a time of

9.86 seconds. He finished second in the 100 m at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, the first medal ever in athletics sprinting events for Portugal. He won 100m and 200m in 2006 at the European Championships in Athletics and became the first male athlete to win both 100m

and 200m in the European Championship.

He based himself in Lisbon, Portugal, as a 16-year-old, after competing at the 1994 World Junior Championships. After being rejected by both Sport Lisboa e Benfica and Sporting Clube de Portugal, he worked for a while as a construction

worker in the Algarve. He decided to learn Portuguese, and his teacher put him in contact with Belenenses, where he restarted practising.

He made the decision to run for Portugal because of neglect by Nigerian sports officials. "I was injured in Sydney (2000 Olympics),"

"It was a kind of disappointment for me representing a country, running, and I was injured in the competition. "I told the Federation (Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN) I needed some money to go for operation in Canada and it would cost me like $15, 000 because it was a major

operation. "Unfortunately, they did approve the money, but they don't know where the money was. That was the funny part of it. "They said the money was approved, somebody signed it but they don't know who had the money. "So, I came back home, applied for my nationality,

so after two months, it was approved." He is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the 100 metres. From that race, he also set the European record in the event at 9.86, which has been tied twice by Jimmy Vicaut, but not beaten.

He is also Cristiano Ronaldo's Personal Trainer

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