Mary Onyali-Omagbemi

"When other nations are planning to win, we are praying. God hears our prayers but you have to help yourselves too."

"The table kind of turned on me, instead of me being managed when I was an athlete, now I have to manage people."

"The separation of sports and education has made it difficult to discover other stars."

"Whenever I lose, I take it as a learning curve; I don’t beat myself over it."

"There can only be one Michael Jordan, there can only be one Michael Jackson and there can only be one Mary Onyali."

"Talents are usually found in communities and schools. If kids are not identified early, it would be difficult to train them when they are older."

"Sport has always being seen as a man’s domain. It was a breakthrough period for women in sports and I am proud to say that I am one of the leading women that championed the breakthrough which led to the recognition of women in sport, both in Nigeria and Africa."

"Till today, the picture and video are still with the IOC and still at the museum. It shows the true picture of Olympics. We didn’t win the gold or the silver but bronze, however it was a golden bronze. To the IOC it depicts what the Olympics is all about."

"Wherever they are, despite the situation, they should not lose hope and must keep training."

"If I had got married to someone who was not sport-inclined, a typical African who would want you to have a regular job or stay at home as a mother; it would have been a disaster."

"I had not practised or used the starting block before. I was using it in Egypt for the first time. I did not know the blocks had sensors that could detect sensitive reactions, So, I triggered the block before the shot. I was disqualified for misusing it."

"Do not focus entirely on sport, because there will be a day when your body will fail you. When that day comes, and you do not have the educational background to face the real life after sport, something will fall off you."