Up and coming track star and renaissance man Amechi Egbe is crowd-funding in order to realise his dream to represent Nigeria at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.
Described on Deamfuel as the ‘Nigeria’s Artistic Speeding Bullet‘, [link id=”426″ tax=”post_tag” text=”Amechi Egbe”] like many athletes, realizes that training full time for the Olympics relegates them to the status of “starving artist.”
However, the University of Southern California (USC) graduate understands this notion, more than most as in addition to being a star on the track, Amechi is an up and coming photographer and fashion guru.
Upon graduating from USC, Amechi returned back to his hometown of New York City, opting to pursue his artistic passions rather than applying to medical school.
Among his many accomplishments while at USC, the Manhattan, NYC born athlete was an NCAA Division I Championship Qualifier in the 4x100m in 2010; was All Conference in the 4x100m relay in the Pac-12 Track and Field Championship in 2010 and 2011; was a Pac-12 Qualifier in the 100m dash, 200m dash and 4x100m relay in 2010 and 2011; was named fastest returning sprinter in the 100m dash in 2011; and was named to the All West Division I Track and Field Regional Team in 2010.
In addition to all that, Amechi is an also engineer who holds a BA in Neuroscience from USC and an emerging fashion photographer.
Despite his multiple talents, Amechi struggles to afford to train for the Games, and he’s not alone – 85% of Olympic athletes make $15,000 per year or less. In order to afford to train, he teamed up with Deamfuel, a crowd funding platform that helps athletes raise money from family, friends, fans, and followers.
Amechi is on track to represent [link id=”5″ tax=”category” text=”Nigeria” target=”_blank”] at the 2016 Rio Olympics. To prepare, he must get to major competitions around the nation and the Nigerian Championships in Calabar in June to qualify for this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
Amechi is also looking for help with financing competitive gear as well as the supplements that he needs to support his training.
Follow Amechi on his Road to Rio journey online:
Twitter
Website
Meet The Authors
Yomi is the founder of Africa's number one track and field website - AthleticsAfrica. A multi award-winning editor, journalism innovator, media trainer, sports and digital transformation consultant.
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