The father of Maria Benedicta Chigbolu, Ambassador Agustine Chigbolu has expressed deep joy over his daughter making the Italian Olympic team for the second consecutive time.

Maria Benedicta is a quarter-miler who represented Italy at the 2016 Rio Olympic, a very significant one to the family of the Chigbolus in Nigeria.  

The proud father expressed delight with the daughter expolite in sports, particularly following in the footstep of his father. Amb. Chigbolu said much as he is very happy with the news that the daughter would be representing Italy at the Japan 2020 Olympic, it was the Rio Olympics Games that meant so very much to them.

"Her participation at the Rio Olympics was very historic to us as a family. She competed at the Olympics exactly sixty years after my father competed at the 1956 Olympics Games. Again, she was 27 years old when she competed at that Olympics, the same age my father was when he competed at the Olympics. So, you see, its like history repeating itself there. Most of the commentators at the Rio games were busy mentioning it whenever her name was been called. To us, as a family, we were very happy.

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"I know most people would be asking why is she not representing Nigeria which would have also made me happy,  nevertheless, I am still a very happy man that my daughter is representing her mother's country. Mose so, It's her decision and we totally respect it as a family. The most important thing to us is that somebody in the family is carrying on with my father's legacy, and anytime her name is been mentioned wherever she goes to compete, my fathers name is mentioned too. This is our joy.

Much as the Chigbolus would be rooting for Nigeria at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games, it will also be quite understandable that a part of them would also be rooting for Italy because of their daughter.

Maria Benedicta Chogbolu 2016 squad, set the Italian national record at the 4x400 meters with a time of 3:25.16 sec.

She took bronze medals at the (4x400 m), and at the 2019 European Team Championship (400 m and 4x400 m).