Multiple Olympic medalist and former beach wrestling world champion, Blessing Onyebuchi has revealed some of the challenges she faced during her active years as an athlete.

Onyebuchi, who recently graduated as a coach of the sport from the National Institute of Sports, Lagos, revealed that only a positive mindset and her mentors helped keep the focus.

Unfortunately, her career was cut short due to an injury, she told brila.net, exclusively.

“I started sports in 2007 and we had training camp in Abakaliki, normally in wrestling, we play different games for us to be fit and to have good and fast reactions. On that occasion, I had a serious eye injury which needed to be stitched,” she told Brila.net.

“I had another injury where I dislocated my knee; that was in 2014 in Glasgow. All my knee ligaments got cut and it took me eight months to get back to my feet.

“Special thanks to the government then, they really took good care of me and supported me and then the President of the federation, Daniel Igali too.

“They took me out of the country, to Doha and treated me until I got back on my feet and I continued again.”

” I’ve had different injuries, including a muscle tear in my thigh, and the most recent is the one I cracked my thigh bones and I still feel the pain even after two years.

“There are lots of challenges in wrestling and one needs a positive mindset to be able to compete, without a positive mindset, you can’t be a wrestler,” Onyebuchi reiterates.

She also indicated that it was the thigh injury which forced her into retirement.

“I got the injury during a training camp in Bayelsa for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, with just four days to the tournament. I was wrestling someone, a guy because I train with guys as most female wrestlers are lazy. Most of them give the “body weight” excuse and they do not move as fast as I wish, so because of this, I train with guys. I trained with guys all through my career.”