Nigeria's first Olympic gymnast grew up doing backflips off his couch -- and now he wants to put the country on the map for gymnastics.
"The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" isn't what you would call a gymnastics movie, but for Nigerian American gymnast Uche Eke, it inspired his love for Tokyo -- and fueled his dream to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
But there was a small problem: Nigeria had never even qualified a gymnast to the Olympics before. In May, Eke made history when he became the first to do so -- and this past weekend, he competed in his first Olympic Games.Eke, 23, was raised in the US, but he's been traveling to Nigeria every year since he was three to visit his father's village. Inspired by the sense of community he felt during his visits, he knew he wanted to give back -- the only question was how.
Watch the full episode featuring Eke: African athletes uplift their countries with Olympic pursuits 23:06CNN: What does it take to be a good gymnast? UE: I believe that hard work beats out talent. Of course, if you're talented, you have a huge advantage from the start, but it takes time and repetition. For example, throughout my childhood, I practiced from 4:30 PM to 9:00 PM every day. On the weekends, it would be from around 12:00 to 4:00. So, it's all about time and repetition.
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