TheNewsGuru

Tag: Olympic Games

  • Paris 2024: Sports Minister questions commitment of athletes

    Paris 2024: Sports Minister questions commitment of athletes

    Nigeria’s Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, has expressed concerns about the level of commitment and the patriotism of some Nigerian athletes.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Senator Enoh expressed the concerns on Friday following the poor outing of Team Nigeria at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

    Enoh, nevertheless, urged Nigerians to use the experience at the ongoing 2024 Paris Olympics to turn attention to what the sector requires.

    Speaking at a news conference with Nigerian journalists in Paris, France, the Minister stressed the nation should turn what has happened at the summer Olympics in France to a huge positive.

    The Minister also queried the level of sports infrastructure in Nigeria as well as funding, adding that there are numerous challenges facing the administration of the sector.

    “How much this challenges us, for me, I wish I was speaking with you with records of results and outcomes that are better.

    “Let us turn what has happened to huge positives for Nigerian sports, there are lots of takeaways even though we didn’t get the medals.

    “The basketball team achieved what has never been achieved before, long jump, we may not have won any medal but we had three Nigerians taking part in the finals,”Enoh said.

    Expressing concerns about the level of commitment and the patriotism of some of the athletes, Enoh said this was not to drag any of them, adding that there are too many variables that are responsible for doing well at the Olympics.

    “Olympics are a function of too many variables, talking about the training and preparation, how much of it took place.

    “The commitment of the athletes and their level of patriotism; when I say that what I want to say, I am by no means trying to drag any of the athletes.

    “As young men and women, they have done well for their country. I remain proud of our athletes in spite the outcome of the Olympics. It is not easy in a world of  billions of people,” Enoh said.

    Team Nigeria was yet to win a medal as at the time of filing this report in spite of competing in 12 events with 88 athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

  • Paris 2024: Reactions as German team borrows Nigeria’s cyclist bicycle to compete (photos)

    Paris 2024: Reactions as German team borrows Nigeria’s cyclist bicycle to compete (photos)

    The kind gesture of the German team to Nigeria’s cyclist, Ese Ukpeseraye, at the ongoing Olympics games has caused a stir on social media.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that Ese Ukpeseraye, via the microblogging platform X, formerly Twitter, extended appreciation to her German counterpart after they offered her a bicycle to train with at the ongoing Olympics in Paris.

    “Due to the short notice of me competing at the Keirin &Sprint, #teamNigeria, i had no bicycle to race with on the tracks. In the spirit of sportsmanship, the German team @bunddeutscherradfahr came to my rescue by offering me a bicycle. Thank you,” she wrote.

    Ese’s appreciation post to the German team has elicited reactions from netizens, who called out Nigerian officials for not providing necessary resources for the team.

    banksbmpro wrote: ”Seems Nigeria is Just Out to Kill #SportsDreams 😭😭😭. This is so disheartening.”

    temimine_tm wrote: ”So she can’t buy one for hersel.”

    tehtraras wrote: ”This country no go use shame kee person.”

    uzotima wrote: ”And yet one mumu wey marry EPA say mek dem no protest.”

    realyemisolade wrote; ”NIGERIA 🇳🇬… the most popular country for wrong reasons in the world 🗺. I am sure the MINISTER for SPORTS and the ATHLETICS FEDERATION OF NIGERIA have NOT been sacked.”

    iamstepee wrote; ‘‘Wish that German team can also borrow us a president.”

    nobleoligbi wrote: ”Borrow Borrow Country! We borrow to pay salaries, we borrow to fund our National budget, now we are borrowing a bicycle at the Olympics. So much for Tinubu’s Nigeria.”

    afam_odogwu1 wrote: ‘‘Nigeria is such an Embarrassing country, linda for tag minister of sports.”

  • Reaction as D’Tigress bow out of Olympics

    Reaction as D’Tigress bow out of Olympics

    D’Tigress, Nigeria’s senior women basketball team, on Wednesday in Paris ended their impressive run at the 2024 Olympic Games on a losing note.

    The Nigerian side, who have already made history as Africa’s first side either make or female to go beyond the group phase of the Olympic competition lost 74-88 to the U.S.

    They stood toe-to-toe with the Americans in the opening minutes, only to soon start to fall behind as their opponents came out more forcefully.

    The quarter-final game at the Berry Arena saw the Nigerian side losing 17-26, 16-26, 15-24 in the first three quarters.

    By the time they resurged to win 26-12 in the fourth and final quarter, it was a little bit late in the day.

    D’Tigress deserve commendation – Basketball fan

    Nigeria’s National female basketball team, D’Tigress, deserved commendation for their feat in spite of their quarter-final exit at the Paris Olympics, a basketball fan, Adeyemi Owoseni, said in Lagos

    Owoseni said this in an interview with NAN on Wednesday after D’Tigress’s 74-88 loss to the U S. women in Paris.

    He also told NAN that the Nigerians played well to deserve some accolades in spite of their defeat in the quarter-finals.

    ”We played well but met a better side that brought their experience to bear. The girls should be proud of themselves for at least making it to the quarter-finals.

    ”We played better in the fourth quarter of the match to close the gap. We should be proud of the girls despite the loss,” Owoseni said.

    Similarly, another basketball enthusiast, Mike Ajanaku, told NAN that though the Nigerians played well, they were not good enough to upstage the opposition.

    ”We failed to raise our game in the offensive and defensive rebounds and this caused us a lot of turnovers that we could have used well.

    ”I must commend the entire team despite the loss because they put up a good fight. They did well to close the gap and made the scorelines more respectable,” Ajanaku said.

    U.S. advanced to the semi-finals with the win against D’Tigress who are out of the tournament in spite of their gallant efforts.

    The scorelines was 17-26 in the first quarter as the U.S. team took complete control of the game making proper use of their superior size advantage over the Nigerians.

    The U.S. team who are eight times gold medalists took the game beyond D’Tigress in the second and the third quarters by dominating all aspect of the game.

    They recorded 16-26 and 15-24 to maintain their good grip but lost the final quarters to D’Tigress 26-12 when there was nothing to play for.

  • Olympic Games: Christianah Ogunsanya loses in opening bout

    Olympic Games: Christianah Ogunsanya loses in opening bout

    Christianah Ogunsanya of Team Nigeria on Wednesday crashed out of the women’s freestyle 53 kilogramme event of the wrestling competition at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

    Ogunsanya lost 1-3 to Khulan Batkhuyag of Mongolia in her round of 16 bout at the Champ-de-Mars Arena, making her the team’s second casualty in the competition.

    NAN reports that Blessing Oborududu had earlier failed in Nigeria’s opening quest to win medals in the sport at the Games.

    She got to the semi-finals though, but then lost in the bronze medal match.

    But Ogunsanya did not have such a luxury, as she lost the bout right in the first period.

  • Paris: 41-year-old wrestler wins 5th Olympic gold medal

    Paris: 41-year-old wrestler wins 5th Olympic gold medal

    Cuban Greco-Roman wrestler, Nunez Lopez, on Tuesday won his fifth Olympic gold medal in the 130kg, beating Fernandez Acosta of Chile in the process at the ongoing Paris 2024 Games.

    Widely considered one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, López is also, five-time World Champion, and five-time Pan American Games champion.

    The Cuban after the fight celebrated his coaching crew by lifting one up and throwing the other over in the celebrations mood.

    The Cuban put off his fighting shoes and left them in the middle of the mat, in what looks like the 41-year-old is retiring from the sport.

    His first gold medal was in Beijing 2008, the other in London 2012 and the 3rd in Rio De Janeiro in 2016. He won the 4th in Tokyo 2020 before his victory at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.

    He is the younger brother of Michel López Núñez, a Cuban amateur boxer.

    On July 3, he and the Cuban judoka Idalys Ortíz were designated as the flag bearers for Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

    Ofili, Oborududu dash raised hopes after faltering in athletics, wrestling

    Favour Ofili on Tuesday failed to fulfill all raised hopes of a medal for Team Nigeria in the women’s 200 metres event at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

    Nigeria were yet to win a medal as at Tuesday evening and all hopes had been on Ofili who was with a personal best 21.96 seconds.

    Blessing Oborududu, who at the same monent was also seeking a bronze medal in the women’s freestyle wrestling 68kg, was also another medal hope.

    The 21-year-old Ofili could however not shoulder the burden and finished a disappointing sixth from lane 9.

    In the event’s final race at the Stade de France, the athlete who is ranked 31 in the world ran in at 22.24 secs which was slower than her season best 22.05.

    The result meant Nigeria’s search for a medal at the ongoing Games continued till another day as Oborududu also failed in her bid.

    She lost to Nonoka Ozaki of Japan 3-0 in her bronze medal match at the Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris, losing without scoring any point in the bout.

    Nonoka scored two points in the first period, and added the other one in the second period to end all hopes of Team Nigeria’s first medal at the Games.

  • Paris 2024: D’Tigress defeat world number 5 Canada 79-70, qualifies for quarter-final

    Paris 2024: D’Tigress defeat world number 5 Canada 79-70, qualifies for quarter-final

    The Nigerian senior female Basketball team, D’Tigress on Sunday afternoon made history at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024 by qualifying for the last 8, defeating Canada 79-70 in the last match of group B.

    By virtue of their win against Canada, D’Tigress became the first ever African team (Men or Women) to play in the Quarter-Finals: of an Olympic games.

    Nigeria, three-time Women’s Afrobasket Champions faced a tough test in the North Americans ranked 5 in the world.

    The first quarter saw both sides jostling for ascendancy but there was nothing to separate the sides as it ended 18-18

    However, the Canadian team came into the 2nd quarter with some renewed zest and power.

    The D’Tigress came back stronger in the 3rd quarter and posted a fantastic performance winning 60-46.

    The Nigerian ladies won the fourth and last quarter 70-79 to book a place in the last 8 of the competition for the first time in the history of the competition.

  • Paris 2024: Setbacks, early exits mar Team Nigeria’s Olympic outings

    Paris 2024: Setbacks, early exits mar Team Nigeria’s Olympic outings

    The 2024 Paris Olympics have been a challenging and disappointing journey for Team Nigeria, with numerous early exits and setbacks casting a shadow over their campaign.

     

    From the outset, the Nigerian team faced hurdles. In boxing, Cynthia Ogunsemilore’s provisional suspension for a positive drug test ahead of her opening fight was a significant blow.

    Meanwhile, Olaitan Olaore, the reigning African champion, suffered a crushing 5-0 defeat in the men’s 92kg category, dashing hopes for a medal in the sport.

     

    The table tennis arena, where Nigeria has historically shown promise, proved equally unforgiving. Quadri Aruna, the nation’s and Africa’s top player, lost a tight match 4-3 in the first round. Omotayo Olajide also exited early, losing 4-1. In the women’s singles, Offiong Edem and Fatimo Bello were unable to progress past the first round, both succumbing to 4-0 defeats.

     

    Badminton brought no reprieve as Anuoluwapo Juwon Opeyori bowed out after losing his first and second group matches. Similarly, the Super Falcons, Nigeria’s women’s football team, ended their Olympic campaign without a single point, having lost all three of their group stage matches.

     

    In swimming, Tobi Sijuade’s third-place finish in the Men’s 50m Freestyle heat with a time of 23.34s was not enough to see him through to the semifinals.

    Young talent Adaku Nwandu, despite a commendable effort, missed out on the Women’s 50m Freestyle final. She finished second in her heat with a time of 26.62 seconds but did not rank among the 16 fastest times needed to advance.

     

    Athletics, another area of high expectation, saw its share of disappointments. Godson Oghenebrume, despite qualifying, was not in the lineup for the Men’s 100m heats.

    Favour Ofili, a strong contender, was ruled out of the Women’s 100m due to an administrative oversight by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN). Grace Nwokocha finished 6th in her heat with a time of 11.33 seconds, while Rosemary Chukwuma came in 8th in the Women’s 200m semifinal 2.

     

    Temitope Adeshina’s 9th place finish in Group B of the Women’s High Jump with a jump of 1.88m was not enough to advance to the final.

    The Mixed 4x400m relay team, comprising Samuel Ogazi, Ella Onojuvwevwo, Ifeanyi Ojeli, and Patience Okon-George, set a new national record with a time of 3:11.99 but narrowly missed out on the final, finishing 4th in their heat.

     

    In the field events, the trio of Ashley Anumba, Chioma Onyekwere, and Obiageri Amaechi exited early in the Women’s Discus after the first round.

    Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, despite a strong performance, finished 5th in the Men’s Shot Put final with a throw of 21.42m, falling short of the medal positions.

     

    These collective disappointments have been a tough pill to swallow for Team Nigeria and its supporters.

    The early exits and near misses underscore the challenges faced by the athletes and highlight areas for reflection and improvement.

    However, there is a glimmer of hope for team Nigeria as Medal prospects like Tobi Amusan the World Record holder in 100m hurdles women category and Ese Brume in high Jump are yet to begin their events.

    Moreso, the D’Tigress who showed resilience and fighting spirit in their first game against world number three Australia in their first game are still very much alive in the competition, they will file out against the Canadian Basketball team today for a place in the next round.

    There are still opportunities for team Nigeria to better on their performances of the Tokyo Olympic Games.

  • Paris 2024: Alfred makes Olympic history for St Lucia

    Paris 2024: Alfred makes Olympic history for St Lucia

    Julien Alfred ran away from American world champion Sha’carri Richardson to win Olympic gold medal in the women’s blue riband 100 metres dash.

    It was a first ever Games medal for Alfred’s Caribbean home nation of St Lucia.

    Alfred stormed down the wet Stade de France track for the gold medal in 10.72 seconds.

    Richardson had 10.87 seconds for silver and the bronze went to her team-mate, Melissa Jefferson, 10.92.

    The 60m world indoor champion Alfred had already made her intentions clear when she beat Richardson two hours earlier in the semi-finals.

    She extended the US women’s 100m title drought until at least Los Angeles 2028. The last US gold was in 1996 from Gail Devers.

    Jamaican 2008 and 2012 gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce pulled out just minutes before her semi-final.

    Also, her compatriot, the 2016 and 2021 winner Elaine Thompson-Herah, was not present in Paris due to injury.

  • Olympics: Adesina fails to make cut in women’s high jump

    Olympics: Adesina fails to make cut in women’s high jump

    Temitope Adesina failed to make the cut on Friday in Paris in the women’s high jump competition of the ongoing Olympic Games.

    Adesina finished ninth in Qualification Group B with a jump of 1.88 metres, leading to her placing joint 19th in a field of 32 jumpers.

    The best 13 jumpers in the competition have now advanced to the final scheduled for later on Friday.

    All athletes who met the Qualification Standard or at least 12 best performers advanced to the final, in spite of the standard being 1.97m.

  • Olympics Drama: Italian boxer, Carini stops fight against Algerian opponent, cites unequal Contest

    Olympics Drama: Italian boxer, Carini stops fight against Algerian opponent, cites unequal Contest

    Italy’s Angela Carini abandoned her Olympic bout against Algerian boxer Imane Khelif within 46 seconds, stating, “I had to preserve my life.”

     

    Khelif is one of two athletes cleared to compete in women’s boxing in Paris after being disqualified from last year’s Women’s World Championships for failing to meet eligibility criteria. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which did not organize the World Championships but is running the boxing event at Paris 2024, said welterweight Khelif was disqualified in India due to elevated testosterone levels.

     

    After receiving a bye in the first round at the Olympics, the 25-year-old Khelif, who also competed at the Tokyo Games, entered Arena Paris Nord on Thursday to much applause from the Algerian crowd. Carini took a punch to the face within 30 seconds and went to her corner for her coach to fix her headgear. After briefly resuming, she returned to her corner and stopped the fight.

     

    Just before Khelif’s arm was raised by the referee, Carini could be heard saying, “It’s not right.” She was in tears as she faced the media after the bout.

     

    “I wasn’t able to finish the match. I felt a strong pain in my nose and, with the experience and maturity I have as a woman, I decided to stop. I hope my nation and my dad won’t take it badly, but I had to preserve my life,” Carini told BBC Sport.

     

    “It could have been the match of a lifetime, but I had to preserve my life in that moment. I don’t fear the ring or taking blows, but I couldn’t continue this time.”

     

    Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told Italian media: “It matters to compete on equal grounds, and, from my point of view, it was not an even contest.”

     

    Speaking about Khelif, Carini said, “I wish her to carry on until the end and that she can be happy. I am someone who doesn’t judge anyone. I am not here to give judgments.”

     

    Khelif, who has lost nine times in her 50-fight career, told BBC Sport, “I’m here for the gold – I fight everybody.”

     

    In a statement on Thursday, the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit and IOC criticized the International Boxing Association (IBA), stating Khelif and Lin “were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA.”

     

    “Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process,” the IOC said. “The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure – especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years. Such an approach is contrary to good governance.”