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Funke is the only woman to play in seven Olympic games in table tennis.
Olufunke "Funke" Oshonaike began playing table tennis in the early 1980s in Lagos, on Akeju Street in Shomolu.
She is the first woman to play table tennis in seven Olympic Games, a milestone she has achieved.
The Journey to stardom
The 47-year-old started her table tennis journey at a tender age at her primary school, Community Primary School, now known as Ola-Olu Primary School, in Agunbiade, Shomolu, Lagos.
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She completed her secondary education at Igbobi Girls High School and then attended the University of Lagos before moving to Italy in 1994.
She won her first competition in primary four, and she was honored and that was the stepping stone for her in the ping pong game.
She attended Igbobi Girls High School, Igbobi-Yaba, and left in SS1 to continue with her education and professional career.
She became the first member of the Nigerian team when she was 16 years old and made her All-African Games debut in Cairo, Egypt.
She made her Olympic Games debut in Atlanta in 1996.
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In 2007, she won an international medal in table tennis at the 2007 All-Africa Games in Algeria, and the rest was history for Funke.
Medals and history
Oshonaike overcame significant hurdles to accomplish everything she has. The Nigerian has won 25 national championships, 11 medals in the African Games, and three titles at the continental level.
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Over more than three decades, the Lagos paddler has been at the top of her game. The table tennis legend has played in seven Olympics, making her the only woman to do so in Africa and as a table tennis player.
She joined fellow Nigerian Segun Toriola, Jean-Michael Saive of Belgium, Zoran Primorac of Croatia, and Jörgen Persson of Sweden as the only table tennis players to have ever participated in seven Games.
Oshonaike is the first woman to join the prestigious "Seven Club’, She said, "The 'Seven Club has only men who have been to seven Olympics in table tennis. Only men. I will be the only woman from Africa, the whole world, that has been my dream," She told Olympics.com's Evelyn Watta in March 2020.
Funke won more Medals for Nigeria during Pregnancy
Unbelievably, Olufunke won twice as many medals while expecting a child. The table tennis legend won gold at the 2002 African Championships.
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She won gold in both women's singles and mixed doubles alongside Segun Toriola while she was pregnant.
"I trained and played professionally until I was seven months because my bump was not showing in the first six months. I played at the African Championships and won.
"After I gave birth, I started playing immediately. I still won medals for my country. At the 2003 All African Games in Abuja, my first boy was just six, seven months and I won four gold medals. That was my best Games, I can never forget that,” she told Olympics.com
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When she competed at the 2006 World Team Table Tennis Championships while expecting her second son, she replicated the feat four years later.
She said, "The second boy was also born also in January. I went to Algiers [2007 All African Games] when he was like six months old and again I won medals."
Funke is Africa's table tennis queen and has helped mentor young girls into stardom.
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