Former queen of the track, Olympian Mary Onyali, has revealed the risk she and her teammates, Beatrice Utondu, Christy Opara-Thompson, and Faith Idehen took in the build up to the historic bronze medal victory in the women’s 4x100m relay at 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Nigeria’s bronze medal in the 4x100m relay at Barcelona ‘92 Olympics was the first time an African women’s team ever won a medal in that event.

The race, on August 7, 1992, saw Onyali and her teammates run 42.81seconds in the final of the women’s 4x100m relay after returning 42.39 seconds during the heats, which still stands as African and Nigerian record. They finished behind the United States and the Unified Team, which took the gold and silver respectively.

Till date, the image of Onyali and her teammates celebrating the ‘golden bronze’ still look fresh in the mind of many athletics lovers across Nigeria, Africa and the world.

Onyali is among athletics legends cheering Team Nigeria and other athletes to victory in the ongoing 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

Speaking with The Guardian during the week in Glasgow, Onyali revealed how she and teammates decided to train on their own after ‘pushing aside’ their coach in the build up to the 4x100m final.

“It was a long story,” Onyali began. “Till date, many Nigerians don’t know the secret behind that our celebration but I will tell you today.

“In Barcelona, we had issues with our coach (name withheld). Things got to a point when we couldn’t tolerate her. I was the leader of Nigeria women’s relay team. One morning, we walked up to her and said, coach, we don’t need you anymore. We will coach ourselves. A lot of things led to that decision, and from that moment till the final of the 4x100m race, she respected herself and stayed away from our training,” Onyali said.

Speaking further, the legendary Onyali said: “From that moment, the spirit of togetherness among us (athletes) became stronger. We did our baton exchange alone, and corrected every mistake alone without the input of the coach.

“On the day of the final, something strange happened. All other three members of the relay squad (Beatrice Utondu, Christy Opara-Thompson and Faith Idehen) had one form of injury or the other. I was the only healthy one among them. But we told ourselves that it will amount to a big embarrassment if we fail to get to the podium. As I said earlier, the bond in us became so strong, and we listened to the view of one another.

“The race started and Utondu ran the first leg. I could see the sign of the injury in her, but she pushed on. Faith Idenhen ran the second leg, while Charity Opara-Thompson ran the third leg. It was written all over their faces that they all struggled to catch up due to injuries. But we just had to get something from the race.”

By the time I received the baton, we were behind in fifth place, but Jamaica dropped baton, and it gave me more energy to increase my race. I eventually anchored at 42.81secs, and it was a bronze medal.”

“You can now understand why we celebrated the bronze as if we won the gold. For us, it was worth celebrating because of what we passed through in the hands of our coach. Till today, I am not in talking terms with her (the coach) because of several things she did to me during my athletics career. She frustrated me on several occasions, but God said Mary Onyali must achieve her athletics dream. I am revealing this today for our young coaches to know how to relate with their athletes. Do not frustrate your athletes because it will get to a point when they will gang up against you,” Onyali stated.

Her alleged frustration in the hands of the female coach notwithstanding, Onyali competed in five Olympic Games from 1988 to 2004.

Apart from the bronze medal at Barcelona ‘92 Olympics, Onyali also won another bronze in the 200m race at Atlanta ‘96 Olympics, becoming the first Nigerian to win two Olympic medals.

She also won gold in the 100m at the 1994 edition of the Commonwealth Games as well as COJA 2003 All African Games held in Abuja.