<Tr> <Th_colspan="3"> World Indoor Championships </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> 1997 Paris </Td> <Td> Long Jump </Td> </Tr> <P> Chioma Ajunwa - Opara, MON (born 25 December 1970)--also known as Chioma Ajunwa--is a Nigerian former athlete who specialised in the long jump . After various setbacks in her career she achieved fame when she became the first athlete in her country to win an Olympic gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and to date remains Nigeria's only individual Olympic gold medalist . Chioma Ajunwa is the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal in a field event . Ajunwa is also an officer with the Nigerian Police Force . </P> <P> Born into what she describes as "a very poor home", Ahiazu - Mbaise - native Ajunwa was the last of nine children, with six brothers and two sisters . Her father died while she was still young, leaving his wife to solely support a large family . At eighteen Ajunwa, who had been a keen athletics participant during her school years, gained admission into university but was unable to register due to her mother's inability to pay the fees . She later decided to become a motor mechanic, but abandoned the idea following her mother's disapproval . </P>

First nigerian to win an olympic gold medal