The Raw Talent of Elizabeth Anyanacho. By Evelyn Watta.
3 min read
Anyanacho spent more time training and improving her combat skills at the club where her coach also runs an all-round sports foundation. The Statistics student at the Federal University of Technology Owerri was outstanding on the mat. Her “raw talent”, in the words of Chukwumerjie, came to fore as she easily kicked and punched her training opponents. In her first competition in 2017 held in neighbouring Ghana, she won gold. “I started thinking about the Olympics after my first major tournament in Ghana. I thought if I can train harder, I can get to the Olympics. Then I developed this mentality.”
Her coach added: “Our plan was eight years, so Paris 2024. But when I watched her in Ghana, she had so much talent, raw talent, I decided we could scale back her plan by three or four years if she worked hard.”
The national under-67kg champion has competed in 13 tournaments, winning eight of them and finishing twice in second and three times in third place. All these events formed part of the road that led her to Tokyo. The 2019 African Games bronze medallist took a major leap in her career at the Olympic qualifiers in Morocco. She defeated Rio 2016 Olympian Urgence Mouega of Gabon.
“I am still yet to digest that. With time I will understand the true realisation of what I did,” she added of her surprise victory over the more experienced Mouega, the 2015 African Games champion. It is a big achievement for me. If I didn’t have the feeling that I am going to do good I wouldn’t have been on that platform. I could see that I can be among the best and do what the best of Africa are doing.”
“I’m able to do some of the moves I watched in the action movies I liked. I am still learning the turning kicks, quite difficult but they are so cool. But I have got the hang of most of the kicks. Watching the movies now I am like wow, ‘I know that move’ or I keep saying, ‘that’s a good move’.” – Elizabeth Anyanacho.
With Tokyo 2020 postponed, they have about 15 months to prepare and iron out any wrinkles in her game.“I am happy that the first stage of the long-term goal has been fulfilled. I still realised I have a lot of work to do as the Olympics is no joke and I am now going to meet tougher and stronger opponents. I am going to work very hard to get to that point.”
“That’s the positive we took from this. We were prepared for July and knew we had a lot of ahead of us. It has given us a year and we shall put it to good use. Her technique, tactics and mind we still need to work on. Olympics is the biggest stage you can’t prepare enough. It increases your chances when you prepare better,” said Chukumerije.
Nigeria has qualified only four taekwondo athletes for the Olympics since the sport became a medal event at the 2000 Sydney Games. Anyanacho will be the second Nigerian woman on the Olympic mat. “Taekwondo has given me confidence, exposed me to different cultures and I have made friends from all over. I would not have had all these opportunities if it weren’t for taekwondo.”
In addition to her Olympic aspirations, she hopes her rise can inspire more women and girls.
