Jeanette (Boahemaa) Kwakye is a British sportscaster who used to run sprints. She is the well-known host of BBC Radio 5 Live’s “Football Daily” and also works for 5 Live Sports.
After Kwakye won a bronze medal at the 2002 World Junior Championship, the media started to pay attention to her. But in 2005, she turned pro and ran for Great Britain in the European Indoor Championships and the Olympics in 2008.
Later, in January 2014, she said she was leaving her job and began a career in broadcasting. The person who got their degree from Loughborough University started working for BBC Radio Berkshire. In 2014, she joined the sports team at BBC Radio London.
Who does Jeanette Kwakye go out with?
At the 2002 World Junior Championships, Jeanette Kwakye won the bronze medal. Her relay race partners were Jade Lucas-Read, Amy Spencer, and Vernicha James.
She again competed for Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics. There Kwayke ran a great first leg of the 4×100 meters, but the British team lost because of a mistake during the changeover. Montell Douglas and Emily Freeman made mistakes with their changes, which cost them the championship.
Also, it was known that Jeanette had a partner who she thought was her dream man. Standard says that she was in a relationship with Toks Oluwa in 2012. It also got out that he worked as a journalist and was a kind person.
The 39-year-old athlete has always put her career first, but when she found a good man, she didn’t hesitate to take a step and get married. Tokunbo Kwakye has been said to be her husband.
Tokunbo Kwakye, the husband of British athlete Jeanette Kwakye, is married to her
Jeanette Kwakys, a British former athlete, is said to be married to her beloved husband, Tokunbo Kwakye. The sports announcer was from Ghana, and he and the Nigerian man got married in a big ceremony. The event looked like it would be fun.
Even though Kwakye didn’t say much about her marriage, she did write a post after she got married. In that post, she and her partner were seen dancing and having a good time.
It turned out that the two also have a child. They are lucky to have both a son and a daughter. She also posted a picture of her son with the new baby. She wrote in the caption that she kept her pregnancy a secret, which surprised everyone. She did say, though, that there was no other reason for it.
Jeanette Kwakye Family Does it come from Africa?
On March 20, 1983, Jeanette Boahemaa Kwakye was born in the London Borough of Waltham Forest to her parents. Even though her family is from Ghana, which is in West Africa, they moved to England just before she was born in the early 1980s.
Her mother and father were both born in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana, according to her Wikipedia page. Also, she has siblings who are part of her family. Her little brother is also a sports person.
He goes by the name Louis, and he has competed in National athletics. She also has a younger sister named Chelsea, who wrote the book “Taking Up Space” with her.
But after she made a promise to be with her husband, she started her own family and is said to have two children. But, just like her husband and kids, she doesn’t talk much on social media about her parents and siblings.
Jeanette Kwakye Career in sports
Kwakye and her teammates Jade Lucas-Read, Amy Spencer, and Vernicha James won a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter relay at the 2002 World Junior Championships. In the 60-meter race at the European Indoor Championships in 2007, she came in fourth. In the semi-final, she ran the 60m in 7.17 seconds, which is the best time for a British woman since 1986.
Kwakye ran the 100-meter race in 11.59 seconds, which was faster than both Laura Turner, who ran the same time, and Joice Maduaka, who was the defending champion. The next day, she also won the 200m title after beating Emily Freeman and Donna Fraser, who got silver and bronze, respectively.
At the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Kwakye tied the British 60m record set by Beverly Kinch with a time of 7.13. She then broke it with a time of 7.08 to win silver behind American Angela Williams, who won with a time of 7.06. This made Kwakye the number two female athlete in the world in 2008.
Kwakye defended her British 100m title on July 12, 2008, and also won the Olympic trials that same day. Because of this, she was automatically chosen to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Her time of 11.26 was the same as her best ever at the time.
Career in sports
Kwakye and her teammates Jade Lucas-Read, Amy Spencer, and Vernicha James won a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter relay at the 2002 World Junior Championships. In the 60-meter race at the European Indoor Championships in 2007, she came in fourth. In the semi-final, she ran the 60m in 7.17 seconds, which is the best time for a British woman since 1986.
Kwakye ran the 100-meter race in 11.59 seconds, which was faster than both Laura Turner, who ran the same time, and Joice Maduaka, who was the defending champion. The next day, she also won the 200m title after beating Emily Freeman and Donna Fraser, who got silver and bronze, respectively.
At the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Kwakye tied the British 60m record set by Beverly Kinch with a time of 7.13. She then broke it with a time of 7.08 to win silver behind American Angela Williams, who won with a time of 7.06. This made Kwakye the number two female athlete in the world in 2008.
Kwakye defended her British 100m title on July 12, 2008, and also won the Olympic trials that same day. Because of this, she was automatically chosen to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Her time of 11.26 was the same as her best ever at the time.
The Summer Olympics in 2008
Kwakye finished second in the 100-meter heats, behind Torri Edwards, with a time of 11.30 seconds. This allowed her to move on to the quarter-finals. In the quarter-final, Shelly-Ann Fraser and Evgeniya Polyakova beat her to the finish line. However, she still made it to the semi-final by coming in third. Kwakye was third in the semi-final on August 17, 2008, with a time of 11.19. She was the first British woman to make it to the final of the 100-meter race since Heather Oakes in 1984. Kwakye was also the only European athlete to make it to the final at these Olympics. In the final, she ran a personal best time of 11.14 seconds and came in sixth, ahead of Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie of the Bahamas and Tori Edwards of the US.
The Jamaican team and Great Britain were the favorites to win a medal in the 4×100-meter relay final. Kwakye had a good first turn in the final, but the British team didn’t finish because Montell Douglas and Emily Freeman didn’t switch places properly. Jamaica also did not finish because Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart made the same mistake.
Jeanette Kwaky Injury
After Beijing 2008, Kwakye hurt his Achilles tendon and knee, which kept him from running in 2010. She went back to racing in 2011 and won the British 100m title. Kwakye made it to the semi-finals of the Women’s 100m at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. Kwakye won the British 60m Indoor title in 2012, but he was hurt and couldn’t make it to the London 2012 Olympics. In 2013, she did not run.
In January 2014, Kwakye said that she would no longer compete.
Life at home
Kwakye’s parents were both born in Ghana’s Brong-Ahafo Region. In the early 1980s, the Kwakye family moved to England. Louis, Kwakye’s younger brother, also takes part in National sports. The 2020 Penguin (Merky Books) book “Taking Up Space” was written with her younger sister Chelsea.
Kwakye went to college and got a degree in Politics and Economics from Loughborough University.
The singer Estelle is one of her best friends.
Kwakye was in charge of training Lily James and Lenora Crichlow for their roles as athletes in the 2012 British movie Fast Girls. She was also in the documentary film Personal Best, which came out in 2012.
In October 2016, Jeanette was part of a group that bought the football team Dagenham & Redbridge from the English National League.
Kwakye self-published a book for kids called Femi the Fox in 2017.
Career in broadcasting
After he retired, Kwakye got an NCTJ certificate and went to work for BBC Radio Berkshire. In 2014, he joined the sports team at BBC Radio London.
Kwakye hosts the BBC Radio 5 Live podcast Football Daily and fills in for 5 Live Sport. She also helps out with Ian Wright’s podcast, Wrighty’s House, which she does often.
Kwakye has hosted a number of sports shows for BBC Sport, including the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, the 2019 World Swimming Championships, the 2019 World Athletics Championships, The Women’s Football Show, and BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2019. She covers track and field events for the BBC.
Kwakye used to host The Women’s Sport Show, an hour-long show on BBC Radio London that aired every Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
Kwakye was named Channel 5’s main host for their boxing coverage in December 2020.
Kwakye enjoys writing, and his work has appeared in The Guardian, the Daily Mirror, and BT Sport. Kwakye also works as a Athlete Mentor on the Sky Sports Changing Lives program for the Youth Sport Trust. She also worked as a reporter for the kids’ TV show Game Changers on Sky Sports from 2013 to 2019.
Kwakye was given an MBE in the 2021 Birthday Honours for his work in sports and sports broadcasting.