UKTF Alumna Simidele Adeagbo to Compete at Winter Olympics
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky track and field alumna Simidele Adeagbo qualified to represent Nigeria in the skeleton at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeonChang, South Korea next month.
The games will take place Feb. 9-25. The women’s singles skeleton competition is scheduled for Feb. 16-17 at the Alpensia Sliding Centre outside PyeonChang. The networks of NBC have the U.S. broadcast rights.
A 2003 Kentucky track and field graduate, Adeagbo was a four time All-American and remains the outdoor school record holder in the triple jump (44’0.5″/13.42 meters). She was also an Academic All-American and Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar to but a few off-track accomplishments. She was an NCAA and Southeastern Conference scorer and was a two-time U.S. Olympic Trials finalist in the triple jump, narrowly missing a spot on the 2008 Olympic Team.
Earlier this month, Adeagbo booked her spot as the first African woman to compete in Skeleton at the Olympics via a qualifying race in Lake Placid, New York.
Adeagbo, who was born in Toronto to Nigerian parents and lived in Nigeria from when she was an infant to 6 years old first touched a skeleton sled in September 2017. The details of her journey from Kentucky All-America track and field athlete to the Olympic sliding center are detailed in the following linked nike.com news article.
Skeleton is a single rider winter sport in which an athlete rides a skeleton sled face down a frozen track at high speeds. Per her personal Website, when she’s not sliding down ice tracks, she’s a creative force, visionary, business leader, world traveler and Africa Aficionado.
“Ultimately, for me, this is about breaking barriers in winter sports,” Adeagbo told nike.com earlier this month. “It’s about making history. And leaving a legacy. It’s about moving sport forward. That’s so much bigger than just me being an Olympian.”
For over a decade, while pursuing her athletic endeavors, Adeagbo has also led a successful and notable career at Nike Inc., where she is currently a Marketing Manager in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“Simi represents what the power of sport can do to move the world forward, and for me, one of the best parts of her journey is getting the opportunity to create and innovate for not only an employee, but a friend,” Nike footwear product line manager, Tobie Hatfield, a senior director of athlete innovation who’s designing Adeagbo’s skeleton spikes, told nike.com.
—
For the most in-depth coverage of the UK cross country and track and field program follow the @KentuckyTrack social media channels on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook as well as on UKathletics.com.
