Bayelsa swimmer, Ifiaezibe Gagbe, star of the Edo 2020 National Sports Festival, has revealed how she overcame the trauma of divorce to cart home 15 medals, including 8 Gold at the event.
She spoke in a recent interview with newsmen as she opened up on her personal life, the journey to stardom, her desire to become an Olympian and more.
Speaking about her relationship, Gagbe said: I don’t have a boyfriend at the moment, but I was once married in 2015.
Her words: “I got married in 2015 but we divorced in 2018. I went to the Abuja 2018 National Sports Festival with that trauma because he didn’t want me to go back to my sport. I had a baby and my weight was too much for me to return to swimming and I struggled. He was against me swimming again, but I went back to doing it. And we had some issues after that, which led to our divorce. I went to the 2018 festival with a lot of trauma and I won 14 silver medals, I didn’t win any gold. I was so angry because I am a golden girl. So, this time, with my mind settled, I came to Edo and became the golden girl that I am.
Asked if the issues she had with her ex-husband have anything to do with her sporting career, Gagbe response was negative.
“It had nothing to do with my career. I am a worker in the Bayelsa State Sports Council and at that time, I wasn’t thinking of returning to swimming because I weighed 90kg then and nobody believed that I would be able to return to swimming because of my baby. He (ex-husband) asked me to go for a coaching course, which I did. He supported my career, but our divorce was as a result of other issues which were not related to my sporting career.
She attributed her exceptional performance at the recent festival to “God and hard work,” adding, “I trained very hard and when you know what you are going for, you stay focused and you fight for it. To be candid with you, there is nothing more to my success than training.”
