Nigerian athletes has in recent years been lambasted by the media especially when they perform below expectation at international competitions but are quick to shower praise when these athletes excel.
in 2017, three young sprinters; Oguma (18), Toluwani (19), Usoro (19) who have a burning desire to educate the public and correct some of the notions about Nigerian athletics decided to setup a blog called “Athletic Heat” which will promote Nigerian athletics by providing Athletics reports, Statistics, News, Gist and Exclusive interviews concerning Nigerian athletics.
They have now expanded their brand to also rewarding athletes weekly and annually as well as organizing School Tour Programs which has attracted sponsors such as Yesir Foundation, MTN, Nilayo Sports Management, Kwese Sports, Greenlife Pharmaceutical amongst other notable companies
The Group includes:
Eseroghene Oguma:
Eseroghene is the CEO of Athletic Heat Ltd. Nigeria’s second largest Athletics media and management company The pioneers of Athletic Heat Track and Field Awards, the first awards in Nigeria focused on Athletics as well as the Co-founder of Athletics In School Tour, first of its kind in Nigeria.
He is a graduate of the University of Port Harcourt where he bagged a degree in Business Management. He is also the sprint double champion (100m/200m) of the maiden edition of Lagos Secondary school sports game (Ibile), he then won a bronze medal at the National Junior Championship (200m). He has also racked up a bronze medal at the West African University Games as well as a silver at the Nigerian University Games for his school.
His dedication towards promoting Track and Field in Nigeria landed him the Award of Most Innovative Entrepreneur in Sports Under the age of 25 by SME 100 Africa in 2019 and he was a nominee of the prestigious Future Awards Africa Prize in Sports.
He has also been featured on various TV and radio station including; TVC, STV, Voice of America, Lagos Talks, Naija FM and a host of other media outlets.
He has always felt that Nigerian athletes could go further and achieve higher accolades if they are given the right support.
Toluwani Adebakin:
Toluwani is the CFO of Athletic Heat, as well as the founder of Waka10, an authentic African themed sports clothing apparel company. He completed his undergraduate degree with honors in Business Administration at William Carey University, while winning a National title and 5 individual All American medals in Track and field. I his currently a graduate student at the University of South Florida obtaining my MBA and MS in Sports & Entertainment..
Ruth Usoro:
Ruth is a Nigerian born US-based Sprint Jumper at Texas Tech University where she owns two School Records.
A talented athlete who won her first Senior National Medal at 18 years old during the 2015 National Championship in Warri, Delta state, clinching the Bronze medal in the Long Jump. Her other major medals include Gold at the 2016 ECOWAS Games in Long Jump, Bronze at the 2017 National Championship in Triple Jump, Multiple NJCAA titles in the sprints and jumps as a College student at South Plains College.
Now a Junior at Texas Tech University, she has earned two All-American, two Big 12 Championship titles and two school record in her first season as a Red Raider. She claimed the school Triple Record in her first flight in Lubbock, jumping 13.49m and claimed the long jump record three weeks later at the TT Shootout, marking 6.35m. She further extended it at the Big 12 Indoor Championship leaping 6.54m.
Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, Ruth was the only female athlete from her school that was to doubling at the NCAA Championships which eventually got cancelled. She is ranked #19 in the World in the indoor Long Jump event.
She is the Human Resource Manager at Athletic Heat.
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