He was born and raised in the United States though his parents were born in Nigeria. Early in 2014, due to his dual citizenship, began competing for the Nigeria National Team.[1] He attended Hackensack High School where he was a standout athlete. He initially started out as a sprinter but decided to move to the throws because he was too slow. Mozia is a Mechanical Engineering graduate of Cornell University, where he was a member of the Quill and Dagger society. He currently works as the OT practice manager for Optiv.[4]
Career
After winning the US Junior championships in 2012, he represented the USA at the World Junior Championships where he finished in 10th place.[5] In 2014, Mozia set college bests of 62.80 m and 20.79 m in the Discus Throw and Indoor Shot Put. His 20.79 m throw at the Ivy League Championships eclipsed Adam Nelson's Ivy League Indoor Record. He is also a two-time Ivy League Track Athlete of the Year.[6] He finished twice as runner-up in the Shot Put at the 2014 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Division 1 National Championships both times behind Ryan Crouser.
Mozia broke into new territory in 2016, throwing over 21 metres in the Shot Put. He threw 21.03 m to set a Nigerian indoor record and bettered that twice eventually ending the indoor season with a 21.11 m throw.[7] He however couldn't match this at the Portland Indoor Championships. In Portland, he finished in 12th place with a best of 19.84 m and had two fouls. He won Nigeria's first medal at the 2016 Durban African Championships, a bronze medal in the Shot Put. He finished behind South African Jaco Engelbrecht and Franck Elemba of the Democratic Republic of Congo.[8] He went on to win another bronze medal in the Discus Throw, again behind Hogan and Tucker of South Africa.[9]
After the Durban African Championships, he threw an outdoor PB and Nigerian Record of 20.82 m. Four days later he launched another record breaking throw of 21.27 m at the Athletics Grand Prix Usti nad Labem in Czech Republic. This was his first outdoor throw over 21 metres. He went on to better this with a 21.76 throw later in the competition. This took him up to second place in the All-Time African rankings behind Janus Robberts.[10]
In 2016 he was selected to participate in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Jaineiro where he competed in the shot put and finished 28th overall. In addition, he has a best of 62.80 metres in the discus throw (Jacksonville 2014) which is also a Nigerian record.