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Tag: Olympics

  • Medals table at Tokyo Olympic Games as at Thursday evening

    Medals table at Tokyo Olympic Games as at Thursday evening

    Following is the current medals table at the Tokyo Olympic Games after the competitions on Thursday (tabulated under delegations, gold, silver, bronze and total medals):

    China 15 7 9 31

    Japan 15 4 6 25

    U.S 14 14 10 38

    ROC 8 11 9 28

    Australia 8 2 10 20

    Britain 5 7 6 18

    South Korea 4 3 5 12

    France 3 5 3 11

    Germany 3 3 7 13

    Italy 2 7 10 19

    Netherlands 2 7 4 13

    Canada 2 3 5 10

    Hungary 2 1 2 5

    Slovenia 2 1 1 4

    Croatia 2 0 1 3

    Kosovo 2 0 0 2

    Brazil 1 3 3 7

    Switzerland 1 3 2 6

    Romania 1 3 0 4

    Chinese Taipei 1 2 3 6

    New Zealand 1 2 1 4

    Czech Republic 1 2 1 4

    Georgia 1 2 0 3

    Serbia 1 1 2 4

    Austria 1 1 1 3

    China’s Hong Kong 1 1 0 2

    Tunisia 1 1 0 2

    Uzbekistan 1 0 1 2

    Ireland 1 0 1 2

    Estonia 1 0 1 2

    Norway 1 0 0 1

    Iran 1 0 0 1

    Slovakia 1 0 0 1

    Thailand 1 0 0 1

    Philippines 1 0 0 1

    Fiji 1 0 0 1

    Bermuda 1 0 0 1

    Ecuador 1 0 0 1

    Latvia 1 0 0 1

    Spain 0 2 1 3

    South Africa 0 2 0 2

    Indonesia 0 1 2 3

    Mongolia 0 1 2 3

    Belgium 0 1 1 2

    Denmark 0 1 1 2

    Poland 0 1 0 1

    Jordan 0 1 0 1

    Turkmenistan 0 1 0 1

    India 0 1 0 1

    Bulgaria 0 1 0 1

    Colombia 0 1 0 1

    North Macedonia 0 1 0 1

    Venezuela 0 1 0 1

    Ukraine 0 0 4 4

    Kazakhstan 0 0 3 3

    Mexico 0 0 2 2

    Turkey 0 0 2 2

    Egypt 0 0 2 2

    Cuba 0 0 1 1

    Kuwait 0 0 1 1

    Cote d’Ivoire 0 0 1 1

    Portugal 0 0 1 1

    Argentina 0 0 1 1

    San Marino 0 0 1 1

    Israel 0 0 1 1

    Finland 0 0 1 1

     

     

     

     

     

  • 12 Nigerian athletes cleared, eligible to compete in Tokyo 2020 Olympics

    12 Nigerian athletes cleared, eligible to compete in Tokyo 2020 Olympics

    Reigning Nigeria sprint queen and 100/200m record holder, Blessing Okagbare tops the list of 12 athletes the Athletics Integrity Unit has cleared to compete in the athletics event of the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics which begins on Friday.

    Okagbare who is making her fourth appearance at the games will be competing in the women’s 100m heat on Friday.

    Also cleared to contest are sprint hurdler, Tobiloba Amusan who is ranked number four in the 100m hurdles; long jumper Ese Brume who tops the world list in her event coming to the games and Grace Nwokocha, the home-based sensation who clocked 11.09 seconds in March at the MOC Grand Prix in Lagos to seal her qualification for the Tokyo Games.

    Others are the trio of Divine Oduduru, Enoch Adegoke and Ushoritse Itshekiri who will be competing in the men’s 100m while Oduduru will also race in the 200m, an event he holds the national record of 19.73 seconds which he set two years ago in Austin, Texas in the USA to win the NCAA gold.

    Shot putter Chukwuebuka Enekwechi who made it to the event’s final at the World Athletics Championship in Doha, Qatar in 2019 is also cleared to compete.

    The 4x400m mixed relay quartet of Imaobong Nse Uko, Patience Okon-George, Nataniel Samson and Ifeanyi Ojeli are also cleared to compete and will be in action on Friday in the first semifinal heat.

    Prince Adeniyi Adisa Beyioku, Secretary General of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria says the athletes are in good spirits as they are determined to return Nigeria to the podium for the first time since 2008 when Okagbare and the women’s 4x100m won Nigeria’s last medals in track and field.

    Beyioku is happy the 12 athletes have been cleared to compete and assured that the federation will continue to be the goose that lays Team Nigeria’s golden eggs at the Olympics.

    Athletics accounts for 13 of the 25 medals won by the country at the games and two of the three gold medals.

  • 10 Nigerians ineligible for Tokyo Olympics’ athletics events

    10 Nigerians ineligible for Tokyo Olympics’ athletics events

    A total of 10 Nigerians are part of 20 athletes declared ineligible to participate in the athletics events of the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

    The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of World Athletics, the sport’s world governing body, said in a statement on Monday that the athletes contravened Rule 15 of World Athletics’ Anti-Doping Rules.

    The statement however did not contain the athletes’ names.

    “The rule states that athletes from ‘Category A’ federations must meet the minimum testing requirements to confirm their eligibility to participate in a major event.

    “The key requirement in Rule 15 is that an athlete from a ‘Category A’ country must undergo at least three no-notice out-of-competition tests (urine and blood) conducted no less than 3 weeks apart in the 10 months leading up to a major event.

    “Only then do they become eligible to represent their national team at the World Athletics Championships or the Olympic Games,” the statement noted.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria was included in Category A at the start of 2020, following a continued period of weak domestic testing levels.

    The 10 athletes are part of the 23 Nigeria had earlier entered for the Tokyo Games, and with their being ineligible the rest 13 can be involved in the Games.

    Meanwhile, David Bowman, Chairman of the AIU Board, urged national federations to put more efforts in support of anti-doping rules.

    “National Federations must play their part in supporting anti-doping efforts.

    “The eligibility rules for athletes from ‘Category A’ countries are very clear and compliance is essential for cementing the required long-term changes, and ensuring a level playing field for clean athletes.

    “I must underline that there have been significant improvements in anti-doping efforts in most ‘Category A’ countries, thanks to this rule.

    “The relevant National Federations in conjunction with their National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADO) have started to take their testing responsibilities seriously.

    “I thank them for their efforts, but there remains a long way to go in some circumstances.”

    Aside Nigeria, athletes from Kenya, Bahrain, Belarus, Ethiopia, Morocco and Ukraine jointly make up the other 10 athletes who are said to be ineligible by the AIU.

    The AIU is an independent body created by World Athletics for the management of all integrity issues —— both doping and non-doping —- for the sport of athletics.

    The athletics competition of the 2020 Olympics is expected to begin on Friday in Tokyo.

  • Ex-Super Eagle defender wants probe of alleged assault on Nigeria’s Olympics team

    Ex-Super Eagle defender wants probe of alleged assault on Nigeria’s Olympics team

    Chikelue Iloenyosi, an ex Super Eagles defender has called for a probe of an alleged assault on Nigeria’s Tokyo 2020 Olympics team.

    He made the call while speaking with newsmen in Owerri on Wednesday, against the backdrop of a viral video on social media, portraying a verbal attack on the country’s Olympics team in Vienna, Austria.

    Iloenyosi, who is also a Special Assistant to Mr Amaju Pinnick, President of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), condemned the attack which allegedly occurred on July 21, describing it as unwarranted.

    He described sports as a major unifying factor in the country, saying bringing the alleged assaulter to book would serve as deterrent to those whose aim was to disrupt peace in Nigeria.

    “The verbal attack on our Olympics team is rather unfortunate, uncalled for and should be probed so as to prevent such embarrassment on Nigeria in the future.

    “The young man said he is a Nigerian and played for Julius Berger FC in Nigeria and I call for charges to be pressed against him for accusing the team of representing a terrorist organisation.

    “Nigeria is united today majorly because of sports, especially football and happenings of this nature should not be left unchecked so that the efforts of our sportsmen to unify the country will not be brought to naught,” he said.

    Speaking on the absence of Nigeria’s Under-23 football team at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Iloenyosi said that lack of adequate funding was a major challenge.

    Iloenyosi, founder of 042 Football Legends Association, a Non Governmental Organisation that sees to the welfare of ex-footballers in the Southeast zone, called for continued support from Nigerians.

    He added that the Pinnick-led NFF was “putting everything together to make sure that we qualify for all youth competitions” while calling for continued support from Nigerians.

    He however, condoled with the family of late Imo born ex – Super Eagles player, Philip Amadi, describing him as a lively, friendly and god-fearing team player who until his death, was committed to the growth of football in the country.

    He prayed God to grant Amadi eternal repose and his loved ones, the fortitude to bear his loss.

  • Baseball makes its Olympic return after 13-year absence

    Baseball makes its Olympic return after 13-year absence

    Baseball has returned to the Olympic Games after a 13-year absence, with the first pitch thrown at the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

    International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach delivered the ball to be used in the ceremonial first pitch.

    The honours went to two Japanese students from areas affected by the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami.

    Dominican Republic take on Japan in the opening game at the Fukushima Azuma Stadium.

    Baseball was played as a demonstration at a number of Games before being adopted as a medal sport at Barcelona in 1992.

    It was part of the Games until Beijing in 2008 and then removed from the programme.

    At Tokyo, teams representing six nations will compete in the sport, including the U.S, Mexico, South Korea, and Israel.

  • France hand US first Olympic basketball defeat in 17 years

    France hand US first Olympic basketball defeat in 17 years

    The U.S lost an Olympic men’s basketball match for the first time in 17 years on Sunday when they started the Tokyo Games with a 76-83 loss to France.

    The American team led by eight points at half-time, but the French roared back in the third quarter where Kevin Durant ran into foul trouble.

    The French won the quarter 25-11 and then ended the match with a 16-2 run for an impressive victory after the Americans had briefly regained their composure.

    Evan Fournier led France with 28 points while Jrue Holiday (18) and Bam Adebayo (12) were the best scorers in the U.S team.

    “I mean it’s great, but until we have what we want to have around our neck, it doesn’t really matter,” French player Rudy Gobert from NBA side Utah Jazz said.

    “Every single guy that came in the game brought us something —— with scoring, without scoring on defence, on rebounds. It’s really the team that we want to be and it’s exciting for the rest of the tournament.”

    The last U.S Olympic loss was in the Athens 2004 semi-finals against Argentina.

    The US have won 15 of the 19 gold medals since the sport’s debut at the 1936 Games.

    The American class of 2021 appears not as strong as past U.S sides since professionals joined in 1992, and had lost tune-up games against Nigeria and Australia.

    The other teams in Group A are Iran and the Czech Republic, with the Czechs winning that game 84-78.

    Group B also got going with Germany opening their first Olympic campaign in 13 years with an 82-92 loss to Italy.

    Alba Berlin’s Maodo Lo scored 24 points but Germany, who led for a long spell in the game, eventually fell decisively behind at the arena in Saitama, north of Tokyo.

    “Today is a setback, but we can definitely take motivation for the next game,” said Germany’s Johannes Thiemann.

    Germany, without NBA star Dennis Schroeder for insurance reasons, next face Nigeria who lost 67-84 to Australia.

    Action in Group C and the women’s tournament begin on Monday.

  • Tokyo 2020: German footballer proposes to girlfriend on TV after match

    Tokyo 2020: German footballer proposes to girlfriend on TV after match

    Germany captain Max Kruse has proposed to his girlfriend Dilara during a post-match interview on Sunday at the Olympic football tournament.

    Kruse, 33, took the microphone from broadcasters ARD, showed a t-shirt with a writing and went down on his knees after a 3-2 win against Saudi Arabia.

    “We have been together for a few months, a year actually,” he said with a smile, hoping she was watching back in Germany. “If you can read this I ask you if you want to become my wife?”

    Union Berlin striker Kruse said he had initially planned the move after scoring a goal at the Tokyo Games but was not sure if he would find the net at all.

    Germany are not assured of a place in the knockout rounds ahead of their final group game against Cote d’Ivoire.

  • Tokyo Olympics: Australia tame Nigeria’s D’Tigers in first group game

    Tokyo Olympics: Australia tame Nigeria’s D’Tigers in first group game

    Nigeria’s D’Tigers suffered a 67-84 defeat to the Boomers of Australia in their first Group B preliminary game of the Tokyo Olympics at the Saitama Arena on Sunday.

    According to reports that D’Tigers came into the game in high spirits after earning historic victories over Team U.S and Argentina recently in exhibition games.

    Nigeria had however lost to Australia in their final exhibition game by a huge margin of 39 points (108-69) several days ago, for a reality check for the team coming into the Olympics.

    This time, the game started with the D’Tigers looking the sharper of the two teams as they raced to a 4-0 lead in a blink of an eye.

    The resilient Australians, however came back at 4-4 for a ding-dong affair from then on.

    The Nigerians, led by Miami Heat point-guard Gabe Vincent, were impressive, matching the Boomers for strength as they tied the game 23-23 at the end of the quarter.

    The D’Tigers were off to a quick start yet again in the second quarter with a three-pointer to make it 26-23 and could have stretched their lead a little further.

    But the young and unexperienced Nigerian team were guilty of not taking advantage of their too many turnovers, including poor transition and staying poor at the free-throw line.

    The Aussies who are rated number four in the FIBA World ranking took advantage of the shortcomings of the Nigerian team.

    They led by three points going into half time 43-40, after winning the second quarter 20-17.

    The Nigerians kept the margin minimal at the end of the third quarter with a six-point deficit at 58-52 in favour of the Bommers.

    But D’Tigers collapsed in the fourth quarter, as the Aussies, inspired by San Antonio Spurs point-guard Patty Mills.

    He led a late surge for 25 points, from five of eight three-pointers, with six assists, four rebounds and four steals.

    While the Nigerians though showed a lot of improvement from their exhibition game defeat to the Aussies, but they again found it difficult curtailing their opponents in the final quarter of the game.

    Obi Emegano scored nine of his team-high 12 points in the first half.

    NBA winner Jordan Nwora had 10 points from the bench, while Josh Okogie contributed nine points.

    NAN reports that D’Tigers will now face Germany in their second group game on Wednesday as they look to qualify as one of the top two teams from their group.

    There is a fact of Olympic Games history that no African side has ever made it past the group stage of the competition, with Egypt the closest in 1952 after finishing ninth.

    But Nigeria is the first from the continent to have qualified for both the men’s and women’s basketball competitions at the same Games.

    However, based on the evidence from Nigeria’s exhibition games, both squads should have stronger aspirations than simply progressing from their groups at Tokyo 2020.

  • China’s Yang wins first Tokyo Olympics gold medal

    China’s Yang wins first Tokyo Olympics gold medal

    The first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympic Games was awarded to Qian Yang of China in the women’s 10-metre air rifle event on Saturday morning.

    The 21-year-old student, already an Asian Games champion, prevailed in the final with an Olympic record score of 251.8.

    Russian Anastasiia Galashina, competing as a neutral athlete given her country’s doping ban, came second on 251.1 while Switzerland’s Nina Christen won the bronze medal with 230.6.

    “It’s unbelievable that I can be here,” said a delighted Yang, who did not initially realise she had won. “I was really nervous. The competition was really tight, but I’m so happy that I could win.

    “I didn’t care so much about the points. I just wanted to fix myself and fix my mood during the competition.”

  • Tokyo 2020: Algerian judoka sent home after refusing to face Israeli opponent

    Tokyo 2020: Algerian judoka sent home after refusing to face Israeli opponent

    Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine has been suspended from his sport and sent home after choosing to withdraw from the Olympics rather than face an Israeli.

    Nourine was due to up against Israeli Tohar Butbul in the second round of the 73kg division if he got past Mohamed Abdalrasool of Sudan on Monday, but pulled out because of his support for Palestine.

    Nourine said: “We worked a lot to reach the Olympics. But the Palestinian cause is bigger than all of this.”

    The International Judo Federation (IJF) have suspended Nourine and his coach Amar Benikhlef, who had said on Friday: “We were not lucky with the draw. We got an Israeli opponent and that’s why we had to retire. We made the right decision.”

    In a statement the IJF said: “The IJF has a strict non-discrimination policy, promoting solidarity as a key principle, reinforced by the values of judo.”

    Nourine’s withdrawal was ‘in total opposition to the philosophy of the International Judo Federation’, it said.

    The Algerian Olympic Committee withdrew the accreditation for both the athlete and coach and would send them home, applying sanctions accordingly, the IJF said, without further elaboration on the type of sanctions.

    Attempts to reach Nourine for comment were not successful.

    Friday, Nourine told Algerian media that his political support for the Palestinian cause made it impossible for him to compete against Butbul.

    It is not the first time that Nourine has withdrawn from competition to avoid facing an Israeli opponent. He pulled out of the 2019 world championships in Tokyo for the same reason.