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Tag: Tokyo 2020

  • No Olympic medal for Djokovic as he first loses and then withdraws

    No Olympic medal for Djokovic as he first loses and then withdraws

    World number one Novak Djokovic leaves the Tokyo Olympics empty-handed as he lost the singles bronze medal match to Pablo Carreno Busta on Saturday.

    The Serb then went on to withdraw injured from his mixed doubles match for bronze.

    World number 11 Carreno Busta wasted a match point in the second-set tiebreak, but the Spaniard never looked back after taking a quick 3-0 lead in the third.

    He secured victory in two hours 47 minutes when Djokovic hit a forehand into the net on a sixth match-point.

    Djokovic then scratched the mixed doubles he was to contest with fellow Serbian Nina Stojanovic, with organisers stating a left shoulder injury.

    The medal went to women’s world number one Ash Barty and John Peers of Australia by walk-over.

    Djokovic, 34, is yet to get an Olympic gold, his best being a 2008 bronze, and promised to try again in three years.

    “I do have a regret for not winning a medal for my country,” he was quoted as saying.

    “Opportunities missed both in doubles and singles. I didn’t deliver yesterday and today, the level of tennis dropped, also due to exhaustion, mentally and physically.

    “But, I don’t regret coming to the Olympics at all.

    “I know that I will bounce back. I will try to keep going for Paris Olympic Games, I will fight for my country to win medals and I’m sorry that I disappointed a lot of sports fans in my country, but that’s sport.”

    His bid for a golden slam also ended in Friday’s singles semi-final loss against German Alexander Zverev.

    But he can still achieve a rare calendar year grand slam if he wins the US Open starting on Aug. 30.

    Sixth seed Carreno Busta beat Djokovic last year at the New York major.

    But that was after the Serbian was disqualified in the first set when a ball he hit in frustration struck a lineswoman.

    On Saturday, Djokovic sent one racquet flying into the stands early in the third set.

    He then got a warning for destroying another one as the final set turned in favour of his opponent.

    “It was an emotional outburst and it happens,” said Djokovic. “It’s tense on the court. In the heat of the battle. It’s not the first time and not the last time probably.

    “It’s not nice of course but it’s part of, I guess, who I am. I don’t like doing these things.

    “I’m sorry for sending this kind of message but we’re all human beings and sometimes it’s difficult to control your emotions.”

    Women’s doubles bronze meanwhile went to Brazilians Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani.

    The pair saved four match-points in the third set to beat Russians Veronica Kudermatova and Elena Vesnina 4-6, 6-4, 11-9.

  • AFN expresses shock over Okagbare’s doping rule violation

    AFN expresses shock over Okagbare’s doping rule violation

    The Athletics Federation of Nigeria,AFN, has expressed shock over the press release by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), suspending Blessing Okagbare for a doping rule violation.

    AFN, in a statement says it is in the process of obtaining the relevant details of the announcement after which a full reaction will be issued.

    The AIU in the press release says the Nigerian 100/200m record holder has been provisionally suspended with immediate effect after a sample collected from the 32 year old tested positive for human Growth Hormone.

    Growth Hormone is a non-specified substance on the 2021 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List and a provisional suspension is mandatory following an adverse analytical finding for such substance under the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules.

    The AIU says it collected the sample from Okagbare during an out-of-competition test on 19 July and revealed the WADA-accredited laboratory that analysed the sample notified the AIU of the adverse analytical finding at mid-day Central European Time yesterday, Friday 30 July.

    Okagbare was notified of the adverse analytical finding and of her provisional suspension Saturday morning in Tokyo. She was scheduled to participate in the semi-finals of the women’s 100m Saturday evening in Tokyo.

  • Tokyo 2020: AFN says Nigerian athletes not banned for drugs

    Tokyo 2020: AFN says Nigerian athletes not banned for drugs

    The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has clarified that the 10 Nigerian athletes disqualified for ineligibility at the Tokyo Olympics were not banned over drugs offence.

    Adeniyi Beyioku, Secretary-General of the federation, said this in a statement on Friday against the backdrop of reports in some quarters that the athletes were banned.

    He described as misleading reports that they were banned, noting that their ineligibility was due to non-completion of their mandatory three Out-of-Competition Test (OCT) before the Tokyo Olympics.

    He said the athletes had done nothing wrong to be so labelled.

    ‘The attention of the Federation has been drawn to reports in some Nigerian newspapers that our athletes have been banned.

    “This is far from the truth. The athletes were only declared ineligible to compete because they did not complete the three out-of-competition test that would have made them eligible for only the Tokyo Olympic Games.

    “While the Federation regrets the unfortunate incident, we however plead on behalf of the athletes, who have complained about the negative tag, that they are not banned from track and field as they have not violated any anti-doping rules,” he said.

    The AFN scribe said the athletes are free to compete in other competitions after the Olympics.

    “‘The athletes are free to compete in the many track meetings that will hold immediately after the Olympics across the globe and it will be inappropriate and unpatriotic to tag them as banned athletes.

    “‘The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) did not use the word ‘banned’ in its press release naming 18 athletes from six countries who are ineligible to compete at this Olympics due to the OCT failure.

    “Both the AIU and World Athletics usually, after all anti-doping procedures have been concluded, state the duration of the ban or suspension slammed on any violator of the antidoping rules.

    “In the case of our athletes, they have not contravened any anti-doping rule and should not be tagged as one,” Beyioku added.

  • Tokyo 2020: Sports minister apologises to disqualified Team Nigeria athletes

    Tokyo 2020: Sports minister apologises to disqualified Team Nigeria athletes

    Nigeria’s sports minister, Sunday Dare, has apologised to 10 Nigerian athletes that were disqualified from the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

    This was contained in a press statement by the Federal Ministry of Sports, titled, ‘Statement: Ministry Wades to stem crisis’, on Friday.

    The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has stepped in to stem further crisis by addressing the issues that have arisen concerning Team Nigeria athletes. According to the Director Federation of Elites athletes Department Dr Simon Ebhojiaye.

    The Ministry is abreast of the situation on ground and addressing them. Payment of various allowances commenced since last week and its ongoing. The Ministry is looking into some of the issues raised by the athletes and they are being addressed as quickly as possible.

    The Honourable Minister on Thursday morning in a meeting spoke directly with the 10 track & Field athletes who will not be competing and assured them of their welfare. He apologized to them over the unfortunate development that led to their exclusion and promised that it would be fully investigated.

    In the same vein, the Minister intervened over the IOC packs for the athletes. Working with the NOC, the Minister and NOC President on Friday morning were able to secure approval. No official of Team Nigeria or NOC took away of the entitlements of any athlete was being wrongly reported.

    Therefore issue over the phone was resolved administratively according to the IOC Rule and guidelines. Team Nigerian officials acted in line with IOC standards and as soon as approval was received the right thing was done.

    IOC approved that the 10 Nigerian athletes receive Samsung Galaxy S21 5G

    The letter of approval for there release was signed by Jonas Brun, Junior Project Manager, NOC Relations/ NOC Services.

    “Regarding your athletes that will not participate in competitions in Tokyo in light of the latest information received, I confirm that you can still go ahead and give phones to the athletes”, the letter reads.

    The phones which were delivered to all NOCs at the Games Village was in order for them to benefit from all important information included in the Athlete365website and also to comply with requirements set forth in the Play books, in particular the download and use of the apps required by the Japanes⁶e authorities.

  • 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.

  • Ogunbanwo wins women’s 100m freestyle heat at Tokyo Olympics

    Ogunbanwo wins women’s 100m freestyle heat at Tokyo Olympics

    Abiola Ogunbanwo stunned the pool on Wednesday at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre to win heat 1 of the women’s 100 metres freestyle event of the 2020 Olympic Games’ swimming competition.

    Running from lane 3 in the four-competitor heat, Ogunbanwo emerged st the finish lane after 59.74 seconds to qualify for the event’s semi-finals.

    The 17-year-old who is based in Australia finished 0.27 seconds ahead of Andela Antunovic of Montenegro to win the race.

    Antunovic placed second with 1:00.01, while Gaurika Singh of Nepal was third in 1:00.11.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ogunbanwo’s time is good enough for her to advance as the best 16 swimmers from the seven heats are expected to qualify.

  • 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.

  • Tokyo 2020: D’Tigers lose to Germany

    Tokyo 2020: D’Tigers lose to Germany

    D’Tigers lose 92-99 to Germany in their second Group B match of the Preliminary Round of the basketball competition.