Amanda Obijiaku

Happy birthday to Italy’s sprinter Amanda Obijiaku, a double Italian Under-23 champion twice over and one of the quickest Italian women over 60m.

Amanda has won the Italian Under-23 titles in both the 100m and the 200m in two consecutive years — a double-double, four national age-group golds. At Grosseto last July she took the 100m in 11.49, going under 11.50 for the first time in her life, and added the 200m in 23.89. Her indoor bests came in one extraordinary afternoon at Manhattan, Kansas in February 2025: 7.32 over 60m and 23.69 over 200m, both personal bests on the same day. That 60m mark made her the second-fastest Italian woman over the distance that season. Italy called her up for the European Under-23 Championships in Bergen in the 100m and the 4x100m.

Her route to the Italian vest is a good story. She was born and raised in London, competed for Great Britain until early 2022, then switched allegiance to Italy and signed for Virtus Lucca — the same Tuscan club as Marcell Jacobs. She races in America: four years in the NCAA, first at Charleston Southern, where she won the Big South 100m title and anchored conference-winning 4x100m and 4x400m squads, and now at Oklahoma as a graduate student in business management. She was a Second Team All-American in the 4x100m in 2023, in a squad that set the Oklahoma school record of 43.52.

She is not the only athlete in the family either — her sister Michella Obijiaku throws for Italy.

Buon compleanno, Amanda! Tanti auguri di cuore — salute, felicità e un anno pieno di soddisfazioni, sempre più veloce. Cento di questi giorni! 🎂🎁🎉🫶🫶🇮🇹