Nneka Okpala

Nneka Okpala (born 27 April 1988) is a New Zealand athlete. She competes mainly in the triple jump.[1][2] She has won the New Zealand women's triple jump competition five times and the Australian women's triple jump title once.[3][4]

Okpala's parents emigrated from Nigeria to New Zealand in 1987, and Okpala was born in Otahuhu, Auckland the following year.[5] She joined the Papatoetoe Athletics Club when she was 6 years old, and when she was 15 she started competing in the triple jump.[6] Two years later she represented New Zealand at the 2005 IAAF World Youth Championships in Morocco.[3] The same year, she also represented New Zealand at the Sydney Youth Games.[1]

In 2015, she competed at the World University Games in Korea, finishing eighth in the triple jump.[3] Okpala competed for New Zealand, although she was studying at Monash University, Melbourne.[7] Also in 2015, Okpala was named Monash University Female Athlete of the Year, and won the Essendon Athletics Club Athlete of the Year award.[6]

Okpala graduated from Monash University with a master's degree in international health.[8]

References
  1. "Nneka Okpala | New Zealand Olympic Team". New Zealand Olympic Team. 2016-02-09. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
  2. "Profile of Nneka OKPALA | All-Athletics.com". www.all-athletics.com. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
  3. "Athletics: Okpala siblings making noise in triple jumping". NZ Herald. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
  4. "Athlete Nneka Okpala on why she loves Flemington". The Weekly Review. 2015-06-17. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
  5. Maduewesi, Christopher (2016-03-08). "Nneka Okpala extends her New Zealand Triple Jump NR!". Retrieved 2017-08-19.
  6. "Monash University's Female Athlete of the Year for 2015". teammonash.blogspot.co.nz. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
  7. New Zealand, Massey University. "Big Massey presence in New Zealand's World Uni Games team - Massey University". www.massey.ac.nz. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
  8. "Dual Triple Jump Success for Monash University at Nationals!". teammonash.blogspot.co.nz. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
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