1996 Olympic silver medalist, 1990 World Junior champion and 1991 All African Games gold medalist Fatimat Yusuf-Olukoju is a volunteer sprints coach for UC Riverside's Track & Field program and enters her third year in 2024-25.
In Yusuf-Olukoju's first year with the Highlanders, UCR's record book saw new top 10 entries to the 200m, 400m and 800m, including two new men's top-10 times in the 400m and 800m. Family ties entered the picture in 2023 with both her son (Daniel) and daughter (Raykiyat) signing for UCR. Raykiyat broke the school's 200m record four times and the 100m once, while winning a Big West title with the Highlanders' women's 4x400 relay squad.
Raykiyat most recently won the 2024 Big West title in the 200m.
Yusuf-Olukoju, a fitness professional for over 30 years, owns Village Coach Fitness in Riverside. She is an International Sports Science Association Certified Personal Trainer, Hardstyle Kettlebell Certified (HKC) and a Resistance Band Specialist, as well as certified in CPR/AED by the American Heart Association.
A decorated professional track athlete from 1988 to 2000, Yusuf-Olukoju is a 2x All-Africa Games gold medalist, also winning gold, silver and bronze at the African Championships while currently holding the African record for the 4x400. She earned a silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta in the 4x4 relay while placing sixth in the 400m final with a time of 49.77.
She also placed sixth in the 200m with a time of 22.4 at the 1999 World Championship final, despite her current PR of 22.23.
Yusuf-Olukoju ran for Azusa Pacific from 1994 to 1996 and received her bachelor's in social work. She was a 10-time NAIA All-American and seven-time NAIA Champion in the 200 meters and 400 meters as a member of the Cougars' track and field program. Throughout her career, she set the NAIA records; in the indoor (53.05) and outdoor (51.44) 400 meters and Azusa Pacific records in the 100 (11.36), 200 (22.74), and 400 (51.44) meters. She was inducted into the APU Hall of Fame in 2007.
Her two children, Ray and David, will run for UCR beginning in the spring of 2023.
