Rafiu Oluwa

An alumnus of St. Gregory’s College in Lagos, Nigerian athlete Rafiu Oluwa began to develop his athletic talents in the 100 and 200 yard events as a schoolboy and, in 1952, became one of the first nine Nigerians to represent the country at the Olympic Games. At that year’s Summer Olympics he competed in the 200 m event and automatically advanced to the quarter-finals, as the top two individuals in each heat qualified, and there was only one other individual in Oluwa’s heat. Although he had finished first in round one, he placed last in his quarter-final heat and was eliminated. He also made it to the semi-finals of the men’s 4×100 m relay, where his team also finished last in their heat. Four years later he was again on the Nigerian 4×100 m relay squad, which was disqualified in the opening round. He also tried his hand at the long jump, but he fouled twice and his only scoring jump of 6.53 was far short of the 7.15 required to make the final, giving him a final placing of 29th out of 32 competitors. The following year he moved to England and stayed there until 1961 as a member of the London Athletic Club. After his career in track ended he worked with British Petroleum and the Nigerian Carton and Packaging Manufacturing Company, eventually becoming director of the latter business after 29 years.

Personal Bests: 100 – unknown; 200 – unknown; LJ – unknown.