Former Wildkit Makes Olympic Debut Monday

Nine years ago, Seun Adigun helped bring home a track and field state championship to . 

Today, the former Wildkit is getting ready to race the 100-meter hurdles in London as part of the 2012 Olympics. 

Adigun, 25, will compete for Nigeria, the country where her parents were born. But she said she considers Evanston—where she spent 11 years of her childhood—to be her “true home.” 

Born in Chicago, Adigun attended , , and Evanston Township High School, where she ran track and field her freshman and sophomore years and played on the freshman A, sophomore and varsity basketball teams. 

In the middle of her junior year at ETHS, Adigun transferred to Homewood-Flossmoor High School, where she set school records in the hurdles. Her senior year, she placed second in the 100-meter hurdles at the state track—losing by one-fourth of a second to Wildkit Shalina Clarke.

In fact, both hurdlers almost had a rematch in London. While Adigun was training for the Nigerian team, her high school competitor was getting ready for the Jamaican Olympic trials. Clarke just missed making the squad in early July, when she placed ninth in the semifinals. 

Following her high school success, Adigun went on to the University of Houston. She racked up school records for the Cougars and took third place in the 100-meter hurdles at the NCAA championship meet her senior year. She currently works as an assistant coach for the University of Houston’s track and field team. 

Going into the preliminary 100-meter hurdle race on Monday, Adigun told Patch she is “completely excited.”

“I've waited four years for this moment and it has finally arrived,” she says. “I'm looking to run the race of my life!”

Prelims go off at 10:05 a.m. Monday in London, with the semifinals and finals taking place on Tuesday.