Yemisi Ogunleye Career

Yemisi Ogunleye trains in Mannheim, Germany, with the club MTG. She rose to international prominence in 2023, and her career has been highlighted so far with a 2024 Olympic Gold medal from Paris.

As a youth, Ogunleye tried many different events, including the long jump, triple jump, and hurdles. From about 2015, at the age of 16, she specialized in the shot put and also occasionally threw the discus.

Ogunleye continued to improve in the event through her teenage years and early 20s until breaking through in 2023, qualifying for the World Athletics Championship in Budapest with a season best and personal best of 19.31 meters, more than a meter improvement from her best of 18.14 meters from the year before.

She set another personal best in the preliminary round at the World Championships with a throw of 19.44 meters. She finished second in her qualifying group and tenth in the final with a throw of 18.97 meters.  

Breakout and Olympic Championship

Ogunleye had already established herself as one of the top shot putters in the world the year before, but in 2024, she would excel on the world’s largest stage. She opened her season with another personal best of 19.57 meters. This throw would qualify her for the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow. She won her first World Championship medal at this meet, throwing yet another personal best of 20.19 meters and finishing second behind Canada’s Sarah Mitton.

Going into the Olympics, two women had already thrown farther than Ogunleye. Canada’s Sarah Mitton had thrown 20.68 meters while the Dutch thrower Jessica Schilder had tossed 20.33 meters. The defending World Champion Chase Ealey (now Jackson) also had a season’s best only a few centimeters behind Ogunleye.

Ogunleye cruised through the qualifying round with a best of 19.24 meters to win her section.

After scratching her first throw in the final, she landed a 19.55-meter toss in the second round. She would improve on this throw with a 19.73-meter toss in round five to put her into the lead. She then sealed victory with a 20.00-meter throw in the final round. Surprisingly, none of the favorites threw over 19.00 meters. Maddi Wesche took home silver with a personal best of 19.86 meters, and China’s Song Jiayuan took home the bronze with 19.32 meters.

2025 to Present

Ogunleye set her current personal best of 20.27 meters at the German Indoor Championships in 2025 en route to finishing second at the European Indoor Championships in the Netherlands.

She threw 19.33 meters at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, finishing sixth in a field where three women went over 20.00 meters.

Yemisi Ogunleye Personal Life and Other Facts

Ogunleye was born in Germersheim, Germany, and grew up in the village of Bellheim. Her mother is from Germany, and her father is from Nigeria.

Ogunleye is also a gospel singer. After winning gold at the Olympics, she sang a Yoruba gospel song that went viral.

FAQS

How Tall is Yemisi Ogunleye?

Yemisi Ogunleye is 183cm (6’0”) tall.

Where are Yemisi Ogunleye’s Parents From?

Yemisi Ogunleye’s mother is from Germany. Her father is from Nigeria and is part of the Yoruba ethnic group.