DATE OF BIRTH: 3/2/1968 IN GONGOLA, ADAMAWA, NIGERIA.
AFFILLIATION:
TSU TIGER, HOUSTON (USA)
COUNTRY:
NIGERIA
SPORT: ATHLETICS
RELATEDOLYMPIAN: DAUGHTER-IN-LAW OF JIMMY OMAGBEMI
MEDALS: 2 BRONZE (2
TOTALS)
She is a Nigerian sprinter who won the bronze medal in 4x100 metres relay
at the 1992 summer Olympics and in 200 metres at the 1996 summer Olympics. She
also won the 1994 common wealth.
In All Africa games, she performed especially well by winning a total of
7 individual medals in the short sprints. She won 100metre in 1991, 1995 and
2003 and took a bronze medal in 1987.
Mary took the name Omagbemi, when she got married to Victor Omagbemi.
People see her as being very inspirational. Her consecutive Olympic appearances
from 1998 to 2004 made her the first Nigerian to compete at five Olympics.
Mary Onyali-Omagbemi has truly made a name for herself in the track and
field world, she was popularly called the Queen of Nigerian sprints, she holds
the Nigerian 200 metres record and is still ranked in the top 10 of the
collegiate all time list in both the 100 and 200 metres .
During her early growing years in Nigeria, she never took sport of
track and field event as a priority. Her father died when she was young, so it
was the duty of her mother to take care of her and her younger siblings, a
sister and two brothers. Being that she was the oldest child in the family,
much of the responsibilities were upon her.
Her mother constantly emphasized on the important of education. In Nigeria, the
social norm for the female was everything, Athlete was not considered as one. A
woman was to be educated, eventually work and focus on marriage and having a
family. Apart from that, Mary was interested in philosophy; she did not want to
succumb to the pressure of the Nigerian social norm. Because of being stubborn,
she found herself going against the rules of the norm. In her elementary
school, she participated in everything concerning sport. She had the attitude
of always competing and also proving to be the best.
Mary continued track and field once she reached the high school. She
competed in the long jump high jump and track events and was winning all
through. At this level, she not only realized that she was enjoying it but also
that she was good at it. She began to love the competition and the pleasure of
winning. She developed love for this, as it started affecting her studies, when
the mother realised this, she threatened to discontinue her from participating
in sport. Mary wouldn’t let it happen. Knowing that she loved running and
was able to compete, she would do nothing to save it.
She was inspired by her high school coach, who quickly recognised her
phenomenal talent; she became the team captain of all sporting activities of
her school and started to look at athletics from a whole different perspective.
After her high school, she continued to run, having this hope that one
day, she would get news of college scholarship. She competed and won the junior
category scholarships and also competed in the senior category as a junior and
won. By competing and winning the senior category as a junior and won. By
competing and winning the senior category in 100 and 200 metres, marked her
first disappointment, she was chosen to represent Nigeria in Ghana in 1983, as
her first international competition, in respect of her winning in the senior
category in 100 and 200 metres, but this opportunity was stripped down from her
with an excuse of her still being young and not having enough experience. She
felt she was not taken serious, and decided to prove everyone wrong; after that
year, she began to receive even more recognition and the opportunity to show
her talent. In 1984, she won the senior division again and this time, she was
chosen to go to kwara, again the same devastation struck-she was not allowed to
compete in the 100 and 200 metre races but was permitted to run the 4x100
relay. This act “criticisms and lack of faith” by her fellow countrymen, never
discouraged her but rather made her more stronger and determined to win when
ever she was given the opportunity.
She once again proved in 1985 that she was in control of the 100 and 200
metres, when as a junior, she defeated the senior women. She was now given the
opportunity that she rightly deserved, to compete in the African games in
Cairo, Egypt, devastation came again; Mary had trained and competed barefooted
on dirt surfaces, and never had the experience of using starting blocks.
Overwhelmed by the atmosphere that surrounds her, she false started twice and
was disqualified in the 100 metres. But redemption came in the 200 metres,
where she placed second to a senior competitor. In 1986 She went on to compete
in the World Junior Championship in Athens Greece and left
with a silver medal in the 200 metres. From then on, she was recognized as the
little Nigerian girl, who never quit but was very likely to stay.
STORY ON
MALARIA AND MATANAL/INFANT INSTABILITY IN NIGERIA
ABSTRACT
Malaria infection due to plasmodium falciparum, has been widely
recognised, as associated with important adverse consequences in pregnant
women, particularly in areas of high transmission. Although strategies using
anti-malarial drugs, for prevention had been recommended, even by the late
1980s, few studies had been carried out to examined the efficacy of these
prevention efforts the objectives of Mangochi Malaria Research Project
investigation were to determine the comparative efficacy of regimens containing
chloroquine “CQ” or meflo quine “MQ” anti-malarial treatment and
chemoprophylaxis in an area of CQ-resistant P. falciparum on the following
outcome: 1) the frequency of placental malaria infection; 2) the frequency of
low birth weight; 3) the frequency of prematurity or intrauterine growth
retardation; 4) the frequency of maternal fever illness and severe anaemia; 5)
the likelihood of infant acquisition of malaria infection. Although the
investigation was not designed to evaluate the role of anti-malaria
chemoprophylaxis and treatment on infant mortality reduction, because babies
born to study women were schedule to be followed for up to two years of life,
the study allowed for an examination of mortality and morbidity in this
population. The sample size was insufficient to provide more than descriptive
analysis of mortality and morbidity in the fetal, perinata neonatal,
postneonatal, and infant time interval.
The study design allowed for the evaluation of two additional aspect of
maternal and infant health: other determinant of the above-listed outcomes in
addition to malaria prevention (e.g, maternal ages, gravidity, socioeconomic
status, infection with human immunodeficiency virus or syphilis) and reported
cause specific mortality in the fetal-to-infant interval. The study designed
included 22 months of enrolment of pregnant women at their first antenatal
clinic visit from four clinic sites in Mangochi
District Malawi,
with assignment to one of four anti-malarial regimens and prospective follow-up
through pregnancy, at delivery and during infancy. All drugs dosing was
performed under supervision by the study team, making this an evaluation of
intervention efficacy (excluding the rule of patient compliance).
PMID 8702043 (PUBMED-Index for MEDLINE).
Malaria during pregnancy is a recognised risk for low birth weight and
probably decreases the survival rate of offspring, particularly during their
first month of life. On the other hand, acquired maternal immunity may protect
infants against malaria infection or disease. This study assesses these two
opposite effects simultaneously.
METHODS
We use the data of a large epidemiological study of malaria (Garki
Project) to analyse the impact of malaria during pregnancy on survival of
offspring, in their first year of life. The dataset contains 138,197 survey
records, representing 12,849 subject of 663 reported deliveries, 417 could be
linked to survival data for the new born.
RESULTS
The mortality rate during the first year of life was independent of
maternal malaria infection during pregnancy (crude rate ratio 1.0). after
adjustment for malaria in infancy, the rate ratio was 1.2. The correspondent
rate ratios for maternal malaria during the second half of pregnancy were 1.46
and 1.73. None of these rate ratios was statistically significant. This may be
due to the small number of deaths in the first year of life with a complete
record of maternal malaria (27 deaths). The infant during the first 4 month had
the lowest risk for plasmodium falciparum, R malariae and P. ovale infections
which may be partly due to acquired maternal immunity. There was a positive
association between malaria during pregnancy and malaria during first year of
life which might be due to similarity in exposure risk within a family, or
confounding effects of socio-economic stature. However, this association was
weaker in the first four months of life, and in those women who contracted
infection during the second half of pregnancy. This may indicate that acquired
immunity is stronger in this group and partially protects babies for a few
months. It seems that on the whole, malaria during pregnancy was not a major
risk factor for infant mortality in the Garki project. these results suggest
that ignoring acquired maternal immunity may overestimate the hazard of malaria
during pregnancy on infant survival.
