It was January of 1974 and Coach Gary Wieneke’s track and field program was hosting the annual Illini Invitational at the Armory. The performance fans witnessed that afternoon at the corner of Fourth Street and East Gregory Drive from a gangly 20-year-old freshman was truly astonishing. Now a 66-year-old, Ehizuelen will remember that day for the rest of his life.
“It was my very first collegiate meet and I didn’t know what to expect,” Ehizuelen said. “Before I came to the track, (teammate) Mike Durkin had come to my room and knocked on the door and told me to be at the track on time. I lived at the Illini Towers which is not far from the Armory. I got to the track and started to realize that this was going to be my first competition. I recall being relaxed.”
The men and women from the Illini Striders Track Club who were officiating the jumps that day had greatly underestimated what the slightly built young man from Benin City in southern Nigeria was capable of.
“I took my first jump and I almost went out of the pit because the runway was too short, so they moved the board backwards for me,” Ehizuelen said. “At the end of the day, they told me I had broken 11 records altogether.”
Two of the marks were especially noteworthy. The Big Ten long jump record (25-feet-nine-inches) had belonged to a former Ohio State athlete for 39 years. Ehizuelen eclipsed Jesse Owens’ ancient standard by half an inch. And on his final attempt that day, he triple-jumped 53-11 Ā¾, a new Big Ten and NCAA record.
It was only the beginning of what would evolve into a legendary collegiate career.
So how did the kid from the west coastline of the African continent actually wind up wearing Orange and Blue? It’s another interesting tale.
“I was in high school in Nigeria competing in a dual meet against Ghana,” Ehizuelen explained. “A few American coaches had accompanied the Ghanaian team. At the end of the competition, one of the American coaches came to talk to me. They were impressed with my competition and asked me if I wanted to continue my career in the U.S. I didn’t completely understand what they were asking me, so I asked my coach to explain. The American coach gave me two addresses, one to the University of Illinois and the other to the University of New Mexico. I only wrote to one of them, the University of Illinois.”
Why just Illinois?
“For some reason, I felt at peace with the University of Illinois,” Ehizuelen said. “As it turned out, when my letter arrived to (then Illini coach) Bob Wright, the national coach of NigeriaāDr. Awoture Eleyaeāwas at the U of I on sabbatical leave, getting his master’s degree. He knew Coach Wright and that’s when the process began.”
Ehizuelen vividly recalls those first few months after his 6,000-mile journey to East Central Illinois.
“At the beginning, it was very difficult,” Ehizuelen admitted. “I came in during the winter season and wasn’t at all aware of what snow was like. I had seen it in the movies, but never had the experience of seeing it. People were throwing snowballs. It made me smile.”
A couple of Illini teammates quickly befriended Ehizuelen.
“Mike Durkin and Craig Virgin would always come and check on me to make sure I was fine,” he said. “Both of them were very, very kind to me, and very helpful. They knew that I was very far away from home. When I felt bad, they’d take me out. They helped me a lot.”
Ehizuelen’s Illini coaches also played a major role in his life on campus.
“Coach Wright was like a father to me and Mrs. Wright was like a mother,” Ehizuelen said. “Coach Wieneke also helped me understand what was required of me. Coach (Tom) Pagani was my primary coach with the jumps. He would tell me every day that I could be the world record holder in the long jump and triple jump, but that I had to do some weights. I hated lifting weights, but it did pay off in the end.”
Ehizuelen enjoyed a myriad of amazing performances as an Illini athlete in the 1970s. His incredible efforts at the Drake Relays in April of 1975, capped by a world record 52-11.25 triple jump, earned him most valuable athlete honors.
Altogether, the nine-time All-American captured four NCAA titlesāthree in the long jump and one in the triple jump. And 43 years after his eligibility expired, Ehizuelen still holds Illinois’s school records both indoors and outdoors in each event.
Without question, Ehizuelen’s greatest disappointment was never being able to compete as an Olympian. He recounted his heart-breaking story about the 1976 Olympics when Nigeria boycotted the games against countries that had sporting links with Apartheid South Africa.
“We were in Montreal for 10 days, gotten our IDs, checked into our rooms at the Olympic Village, and gone through all the normal formalities of being an Olympian. And on the 16th of Julyāthe opening ceremony was on the 17thāI was on my way to go to a movie. I usually go to a movie and relax. Somebody stopped me and said that we were going back to Nigeria. So I went back to the hotel and everybody was packing. We had to leave. The Nigerian government had sent a plane to pick us up. It was the worst moment of our lives. It had taken a long time to get where we were and now they’re telling us that we can’t compete ā¦ without any input from the athletes. A day before the opening ceremony, they are telling us that we are leaving! It was very painful. We left and flew to London, then eventually back to Nigeria. I still feel it to this day. It’s hard to forget that moment.”
Virgin remembers looking out his window and seeing all of the African athletes with their luggage beside them on the Olympic Village sidewalk.
“I found Charlton and he had tears in his eyes,” Virgin said. “Other athletes were crying. I watched them grab their bags and get on the bus. He shook my hand and said ‘I’ll see you back in Champaign in August.'”
In all likelihood, based upon his sterling performances leading up to the games, Ehizuelen would have at least won a silver medal in Montreal.
A torn muscle in his leg kept him from competing at the 1980 Olympics.
“Charlton and Mike (Durkin) were the two most talented teammates I ever had,” Virgin said. “Mentally, Mike was the toughest and Charlton was the most physically gifted. If Charlton had had Mike’s mental toughness and veracity, he would have been a world record holder for sure and he would have won an Olympic gold medal if he’d been given a chance.”
Ehizuelen says the postponement of the 2020 games because of COVID-19 reminds him of what he had experienced in 1976.
“Many of these athletes had already reached their peak,” he said. “Now they’ve been told that they can’t compete for another year. So everyone who would have qualified this year will have to start all over again. Those who weren’t ready have another full year to get ready. Preparing for the Olympics is unique. It’s the level that every athlete aspires to. Four years comes once for them, then the next opportunity isn’t for another four years. It’s an emotional event.”
The 1977 UI graduate has served as a jumps coach for the past 40-plus years. Today, he resides in San Antonio, Tex. with his wife of 17 years, Vivian.
Centre for Nigeria Progress 