Marvellous Iheukwumere has had a spectacular career as a star sprinter for Columbia University’s women’s track & field team.
A two-time winner of the 200 meters at Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Track & Field Championships, Iheukwumere recently placed first at the 2013 Metropolitan Indoor Championships. Despite her success on the field, Iheukwumere has had to also navigate the challenges of being a Black athlete at one of the nation’s most prestigious universities.
“Being a student-athlete in an Ivy League institution is an arduous commitment,” says the Nigerian native who relocated with her family to the United States at the age of nine. “Being an African-American student-athlete is even harder.”
The assumption, she says, is that some believe that Black athletes can’t handle the rigorous demands of the classroom and the field. It’s a myth that she has been working hard to dismantle.
