Nigeria’s first Olympic gold medalist Chioma Ajunwa has been decorated as a deputy commissioner of police.
Her new boss Assistant Inspector-General of Police Frank Mba decorated her on Thursday.
Mba, who used to be the spokesman of the Nigeria Police Force, shook hands with her after completing the decoration as they both posed for photographs.
Ajunwa made history as the first Nigerian to win gold at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal in a field event.
She remains the only woman to compete at both the FIFA Women’s World Cup as a footballer and the Olympics as a track and field athlete.
As a professional sportswoman, Ajunwa originally played football for the Nigerian women’s team and was a member of The Falcons during the Women’s World Cup in 1991, but was constantly benched.
Following her Olympic gold medal at Atlanta ’96, Ajunwa was given a national award – Member of the Order of Niger (MON) – by the then Head of State Sani Abacha.