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Nigeria's Paralympic heroine

Nigeria's Paralympic heroine

The shot-putter with dwarfism whose gold medal celebration went viral on social media.

Sporting Witness · BBC World Service

December 23, 20219m 59s

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Show Notes

At the 2016 Paralympics in Rio, Nigerian shotputter, Lauritta Onye, became a social media sensation thanks to her cart-wheeling gold-medal celebration dance. Onye has dwarfism and has never grown beyond four foot one, or 125 centimetres. She suffered social stigma in Nigeria and at one point ended up selling DVDs on the street in order to survive. But a taster session of Paralympic sport would transform her life. She talks to Ian Williams .

PHOTO: Lauritta Onye competing at the Rio Paralympics (Getty Images)