In case you haven’t seen these already, Making Of Champs was in Salvador Da Bahia, Brazil in December during the World Cup Draw, and recorded these messages of support for Super Eagles from Nigerians living and studying there, in PORTUGUESE!
As the Super Eagles go for history against Les Bleus today, here’s one last look at these AWESOME messages rallying ALL Nigerians to get behind our boys in Brazil! The first video below features former Nigerian International Richard Daddy Owubokiri aka “Ricky” (a football legend in Brazil and Portugal) who has lived in Salvador for over 20 years, after he played there in the eighties, scoring a whopping 63 goals in 89 appearances over three seasons for Vitória, a club which Brazilian greats such as Bebeto, Dida, Hulk and David Luiz all played for early in their careers!
Richard Owubokiri immortalised on the wall at Clube Vitória’s stadium in Salvador Da Bahia!
The rest are from a special group of students from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) during their 1 year Exchange Programme in Brazil, part of their Portuguese Language Degree. They played a big role in making this project possible, not only as subjects, but also as Portuguese interviewers and translators – OAU has been running this exchange programme in Brazil for more than 30 years now!
This would appear to be ominous for the Super Eagles, as such appearance fee and bonus rows tend to come to the fore, just as they did with Ghana, when there is a chance that the team could be exiting the tournament – essentially the players fear (presumably from past experience) that once their tournament is over and they leave Brazil, that they may struggle to receive the fees and bonuses that are rightfully theirs.
It goes without saying that Nigeria is certainly in with a shout of defeating Les Bleus tomorrow, but if that turns out unfortunately not to be the case, then the players have a right to the guarantee that they will be paid what is due to them. It would seem that this guarantee has come in the form of President Goodluck Jonathan sending a plane of money all the way to Brazil! It begs the obvious question – can’t this money just be deposited directly into the players’ bank accounts?
Until Africa improves the level of administration for their football teams, such problems look set to continue for World Cups to come – it seems that we do not realise that we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot, by not providing world class administration, and still expect the the team’s performance to be world class, and have any chance of ever winning the World Cup or progressing to the latter stages.
A potential solution for the future could be FIFA arranging to pay the players directly rather than through their National Federations – indeed, this was a possibility that was mooted by FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke, as he weighed in on Ghana’s bonus row a couple of days ago! Until then it would seem that each player will likely have to make do with carrying over $100,000 in cash out of Brazil when their tournament is over!
Can the Super Eagles SOAR against ARGENTINA tomorrow? After bringing you our analysis of Nigeria’s chances to go through to the second round against La Albicelesteearlier today, we once again bring you the thoughts of some Brazilian fans, and a rather knowledgeable Argentinian, on Nigeria’s chances at the World Cup against Argentina and, if we dare to go deep enough in the competition, against Brazil! Isn’t it unbelievable how much this Argentine fan knows about Nigerian football?!?
Also look out for former Super Eagles striker, Richard ‘Daddy’ Owubokiri, a.k.a. Ricky, as he pays a fitting tribute to his former teammate and fellow goal-scoring legend in Portugal, The Goal-King himself, Rashidi Yekini (RIP)!
To get an idea of what it was like to be in Brazil when Nigeria played there at the Confederations Cup last year, and a feel for what the support for the Super Eagles is like from the locals in Brazil, check out the first FOUR episodes of the mini-series which we’ve been running since the World Cup started!!
Yesterday we published Part I of our EXCLUSIVE interview with MAURICE GREENE, Former World Record Holder, Olympic GOLD Medallist and 3-time World Champion in the 100 metres. Here’s the conclusion – we met with him on his very first visit to Nigeria for the National Athletics Championships, to get his view on the new craze of recruiting American athletes to compete for Nigeria, and his future as Team Nigeria’s Relay Coordinator!
On the men’s side, Nigeria has struggled a lot recently. As a matter of fact, we haven’t had a sub-10 second sprinter since Olusoji Fasuba in 2006, when he set the African Record of 9.85s. What do you think we can do at the Commonwealth Games, when our men are only running 10.2 to 10.3 seconds?
Well, we’ve got to work. Today (at the Nigerian Trials) there’s a big headwind, so you can’t just look at the times of the races. You’ve got to look at how they produce, the elements and everything else that goes into a performance. When you get into a championship race it does not matter what time you run, what matters is what place you get. And if you look at the performance in the 100 metre finals at these Trials just now, it was a bit deceptive, because Ogho (Egwero) really did not start well at all. He stumbled out of the blocks and was dead last, but he was able to move through the race and finish strong, and still managed to get third. So that should tell you something, he would have run better, and pushed the others to run better, and then anything can happen. So everything happens in the race – it doesn’t matter what the time is, it’s the placing that matters most of all, and what happens during the race.
Speaking of that race, Mark Jelks just won the Nigerian 100m title, and both he and Monzavous Edwards in 2nd place just recently switched allegiances to Nigeria from Team USA. Can you tell us more about this trend of athletes, American athletes especially, suddenly finding their roots in Nigeria, and coming to compete for Nigeria?
Well, I think that it’s a good thing. They are great athletes and they just decided to come and run where their roots are and not there where they grew up. So I think it’s a good thing, it’s going to help out the country, because really this country has a lot of great athletes. If you see the trend, all it takes is for one athlete in the country to do something, then the next person then starts to believe that they can do it too, so that’s all it takes. Once one person does it, then another person does it, then another – it’s just a domino effect.
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Do you think this trend of recruit foreign athletes is sustainable? Do you not think that we should be developing more athletes in Nigeria?
No, but we are also developing the athletes in Nigeria, at the same time.
Okay, fair enough. So we understand that you signed a four month contract until the Commonwealth Games. Do you hope to continue after the Games as the Relay Coach for Team Nigeria?
I will continue after that, I will be here longer than that. We have already started discussing what will happen next year and the years after, so my plans are to continue on. My job here is to make the world realise how great Team Nigeria is. They have a lot of great athletes, and my job is to bring out that talent and make the world see it.
Do you think that Nigeria can be as good as the Jamaicans and Americans in a few years?
I believe that we can do that in a year. Especially in the Relays. Especially the women.
You sound confident that you can lead Team Nigeria to surpass even Team USA?
That’s my vision.
I suppose if that were to happen, Team USA might give you a call to give you a job over there instead?
Who cares? I’m not worried about them right now. My job is here, to help Nigeria do the best job possible, and that’s what I am going to do.
Is this your first time in Nigeria, for the National Trials?
Yes, this is my first time.
What’s your impression of Nigeria so far, how have you found it?
Well, you know, every place is different, but my experience has been very nice. The people have treated me very well – everything is good.
Fantastic! So we hope to see you in Nigeria more, coaching the kids over here too?
I will. I will be, I promise.
Final question for you – You’re the fastest man ever, still, in the 60 metres, with a World Record of 6.39 seconds which has stood since 1998! What can you do to teach our guys here how to start fast?
Look at Obinna (Metu), look at Ogho (Egwero), I’m teaching him. It will be a journey but it’s a start. You’ve got to start somewhere.
Maurice, thank you for taking the time to speak exclusively to MAKING OF CHAMPIONS
Thank you!
Maurice Greene, Nigeria’s Relay Team Coordinator (R), with Making of Champions Founder & CEO, Bambo Akani (L) at the 2014 Nigerian Trials in Calabar
Two weeks ago, following the completion of Nigeria’s World Cup friendlies, we brought you the aptly titled “Can the Super Eagles fly against Argentina at the World Cup?” where we assessed the Super Eagles’ World Cup chances, and we told Nigerians everywhere to KEEP CALM, following that string of unimpressive friendly performances. And calmness was certainly needed, after a goalless draw against Iran in the first game that had many a Super Eagles fan resigning the team to doom against the supposed might of Bosnia! In truth, fortune certainly favoured Nigeria in that match which could have easily ended 1-0 in Bosnia’s favour, if those two calls in the first half had gone differently – Dzeko’s wrongly ruled offside goal, and Emenike’s challenge on the Bosnian defender that led to Odemwingie’s goal, which we could not have had serious complaints if it had been called as a foul!
All that said, a win against Bosnia was always going to knock them out and put the Super Eagles in a prime position to qualify for the knockout rounds. Indeed, statisticians on various websites have given Nigeria some 85% probability of qualifying for the 2nd round ahead of Iran. Incidentally, Iran will also be seeking their first World Cup win in 16 years against the demoralised Bosnians, and only their second World Cup win EVER to sneak into the 2nd round for their first time ever, ahead of the Super Eagles. On paper, Iran should not beat the Bosnians, but stranger things have happened, and the manner in which they nearly held the mighty Argies to a goalless draw will give them all the belief they need to go and get the result they need against Bosnia!
As such, despite Nigeria’s seemingly high probability of making the Second Round for the first time since France ’98, our progression may well hinge on the Super Eagles making a little history of their own, and doing something that no other Nigerian team has succeeded in doing at the World Cup – Avoiding defeat against Argentina! Indeed, Nigeria has lost 3 out of 3 against our World Cup nemesis Argentina, and has not scored in 262 minutes of World Cup against the South Americans, since Samson Siasia’s 8th minute goal against them at USA ’94! That remains Nigeria’s only World Cup goal against them!
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In those matches Nigerians have always taken solace in the fact that Argentina’s margin of victory was only by one goal, but if that were to happen again, we could well see the drawing of lots to determine who goes through with them to the next round – if Nigeria loses and Iran wins by one-goal margins, with Iran scoring exactly one goal more than Nigeria (e.g. 0-1, 1-0 or 1-2, 2-1, etc) then lots will be drawn to determine which team will finish second in the group and face the unenviable task of meeting a French side that has already scored 8 goals in just 2 matches in Brazil! And Nigeria is no stranger to losing one-nil to the Argies…
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On the flip side, history beckons for Stephen Keshi if he can become the first Super Eagles manager to take even a point from Argentina at the World Cup. One would also presume that Nigeria is long overdue a result against La Albiceleste (The White and Sky Blue). They have not particularly lit up Brazil 2014 yet, with laboured victories against Bosnia and Iran, and it seems like they are lost for ideas outside the brilliance of Lionel Messi – if the Super Eagles can shackle him and prevent him from scoring (which thanks to the brilliance of Vincent “Enyeamagnet” they managed to do in 2010), then we have every chance of taking something from the game! Super Eagles captain Jospeh Yobo will become Nigeria’s first centenary player with his 100th cap if he suits up against Argentina, and he will be hoping that it is third time lucky, as he is the only surviving player from the teams that lost narrowly against them in both 2002 and 2010!
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Having secured qualification already, Argentina will not be going all out for the win against Nigeria. Could we perhaps see a shock result – Nigeria defeating Argentina at the World Cup? As with USA finally beating Ghana at the third attempt, it has to happen one day, and with Super Eagles in the ascendancy, and gaining in confidence after a good performance against Bosnia, Nigeria has never had a better chance to “smash and grab” against Argentina! To date, our only victory of note against Argentina was the historic 3-2 victory in the GOLD medal game at the Atlanta ’96 Olympics. It’s time to invoke the spirit of that ‘Dream Team’ because something tells us that more than one goal will be needed to take victory tomorrow against Argentina!
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This could very well turn out to be an AWESOME World Cup for Africa, as there is a very real possibility that more than ONE African team will make the 2nd Round of the World Cup for the first time ever, strengthening the perennial argument for more than 5 African slots at the mundial. Apart from Nigeria, A draw for Algeriaagainst Russia should be enough to see them through, and barring a disaster of ‘Kaitastrophic’ proportions against Greece (any Nigerian who saw the last World Cup should understand what that means!), Cote d’Ivoire should go through to the 2nd round for the 1st time in their history!
Double medallist at the Moscow 2013 World Championships, Blessing Okagbare will spearhead Nigeria’s chase for medals at the forthcoming Commonwealth Games billed to hold in Glasgow, Scotland from July 23 to August 3.
The list was released by the AFN Technical/Commonwealth Games Selection Committee in a meeting that was held immediately after the AFN/CRS All-Nigeria Athletics Championships held in Calabar from 19-21 June 2014.
However some of the under-listed who are yet to hit the required standards in their events have been placed on probation and given a time frame of a maximum of two weeks to meet the set standards or get dropped from the team.
MAURICE GREENE, Former World Record Holder, Olympic GOLD Medallist and 3-time World Champion in the 100 metres, speaks EXCLUSIVELY to MAKING OF CHAMPIONS about his rivalries with Nigerian athletes during his illustrious career, and his recent appointment as Team Nigeria’s Relay Coordinator!
You were the 100m World Record Holder with a time of 9.79s between 1999 and 2005. What were some of the greatest rivalries you had against Nigerian Athletes in that time?
At that time, (Francis) Obikwelu. Though I don’t know if he had switched countries yet, but he was probably my biggest rival.
Well, it was a great rivalry. He kind of startled me in the semi-final because he ran that race so easily. He ran 19.84 seconds, and I was like ‘uh-oh’, I am really going to have to do something in the final, so I kind of changed up my game plan a little bit. I knew I had to change up and put more pressure on him in the race.
You won the final with a time of 19.90s, so if he had run that fast in the final, you would have lost it?
Well yeah that’s true, but each race is different. It all depends on who’s in the race and what happens during the race, that’s all.
If we recall correctly, Obikwelu pipped you to the Silver medal in the 100 metres at the Athens 2004 Olympics in a time of 9.86s – by then he was running for Portugal – while you took the Bronze in 9.87s?
Yeah – that was my fault though, because in the semi-final I slowed down too much at the end and he leaned and took second, so that pushed me to an outside lane for the final. I like being in the middle of the track, because when somebody moves I can move to go faster. So that messed me up – it put me in lane 7, so I only had Obadele Thompson from Barbados in Lane 8, and Asafa Powell in Lane 6, but everything happened in lanes 3, 4 and 5. So that messed me up, but you know I say it’s my fault, so it happens. You go through race strategies and race plans and everything else, so you’ve got to live with what happens.
Yeah it was tough, because at those Olympics I lost 2 GOLD medals by three hundredths of a second – miserable day. I mean, you can’t even blink that fast. But you know what? It happens…
Let’s talk about your current appointment at the Relay Coordinator for Team Nigeria. What are your hopes and expectations for the role? What do you think you can bring to Nigerian Athletics?
I don’t hope anything. Nigeria has a lot of great athletes here, and we just have to bring out that talent. They brought me in to mentor a lot of them and just help put everything together so that they can start producing the medals like they should. They haven’t been doing it in the past few years, and things need to change, so it’s my job to come in and try to change things, and try to make sure that the world sees the exact talent that Nigeria really has. So that’s what I plan on doing.
Do you have any of the athletes under your direct tutelage as their coach?
Yeah, I have a couple of them. I don’t work with them every day, but we have training camps, and I speak to a lot of them through email and on the phone, so it’s all of the above.
Yeah, I think that was just a start of what we are beginning. It’s going to get better from there. That is just the start of it. At the World Relays, I had just been with the team for a couple of months, and I think the women did a very good job there. But I expect more out of them, and they know that I expect more from them. I get them to believe that they should expect more also, so good things – no, great things – are yet to come!
Tune in tomorrow for the conclusion of this exclusive interview with Maurice Greene, during his first ever trip to Nigeria for the National Trials in Calabar, where he weighs in on the recent trend of American athletes switching allegiances to Nigeria!
Maurice Greene, Team Nigeria’s Relay Coordinator, at the UJ Esuene Stadium, Calabar, during the 2014 Nigerian Athletics Championships
The final day of the Nigerian Athletics Championships on Saturday produced a major shock, as Nigeria’s 2-time defending 400m Champion, Regina George, not only lost her 400m crown at the U.J. Esuene stadium in Calabar, but was beaten into 4th place by all three of her teammates with whom she won the World Relay Bronze medal in the 4x400m in the Bahamas last month. Folashade Abugan claimed the GOLD in 51.39s, with Omolara Omotosho taking Silver in 51.56s, and Patience Okon George took the Bronze in 51.62s – Regina George could only manage 51.67s, losing out in the photo finish for third!
Folashade Abugan at the World Relays in the Bahamas, where she won Bronze in the 4×400 metres. She is Nigeria’s new 400m Champion, winning at the 2014 Nigerian Trials in 51.39s!
The result was especially surprising because of Regina George’s fine form in the Relay team this year – she ran 50.5s and 49.4s splits for Team Nigeria at the Penn Relays and World Relays respectively. She also won her semi-final in Calabar with a time of 51.30s, the fastest time in the whole meet which would have been good enough to win in the final! For the last two years George has been Nigeria’s undisputed number one quarter-miler, so it is indeed a puzzle that she did not perform well enough to win a third consecutive Nigerian title in Calabar. It will be interesting to see how she bounces back from this setback, and if she can continue her recent dominance of the one lap race in Nigeria!
The significance of George’s defeat will not be lost on Nigeria-based fans and athletes alike, many of whom are still reeling from the surprise appearance and subsequent dominance of recently converted American athletes at these Nigerian Trials. American-based athletes have long been considered better than their home-based counterparts, and while in the past the athletes who switched allegiance from USA had obvious Nigerian heritage through at least one parent (such as Regina George & Gloria Asumnu), the recently recruited athletes would appear to have questionable family links to Nigeria at best, fabricated at worst.
The arrival of the new American-Nigerian athletes will undoubtedly further curtail the opportunities for home-based athletes to develop and eventually represent Nigeria. George’s surprise loss will give hope to athletes all over Nigeria that they also can go toe-to-toe with their US-based counterparts. Abugan, Omotosho and Okon George will inspire their fellow home-based athletes to rise to the new challenge posed by the newly converted athletes. This will certainly re-ignite the home-based versus foreign-based rivalry in Nigerian Athletics in a way that we have never seen before!
In other news from Day 3 of the Nigerian Trials, Blessing Okagbarecompleted the sprint double as expected, winning the 200m in a time of 22.62s, almost a full second ahead of Gloria Asumnu in 23.54s, and Dominique Duncan, another recently converted American on her first trip to Nigeria, in 3rd place with 23.91s. Home-based Divine Oduduru won the men’s 200m easily in 20.87s, with Odele Tega in 2nd with 21.33s, and another US convert, Monzavous Edwards, finishing a disappointing 3rd in 21.38s. US-based hurdlers Cristian Morton and Amaka Ogoegbunam claimed the men’s and women’s 400m hurdles crowns respectively, while Isah Salihuclaimed the men’s 400m crown in 46.15s, ahead of last year’s Champion Noah Akwu in 46.34s and Omeza Akerele in 46.56s.
The Nigerian Championships this year are the Trials for the Commonwealth Games starting in Scotland next month, and the African Championships in Morocco in August. At this time it is unclear whether the athletes chosen for each event will be the first 3 from the Trials or the athletes with the best times throughout the season, so we wait with anticipation to see what the final Commonwealth and African Championship squads will be. If the selection criteria is indeed the Top 3 in each event from the Trials, then we could see Regina George missing out in the individual 400 metres, something that would have been unfathomable just a couple of days ago!
The 2nd Day of the Nigerian Trials for the Commonwealth Games took place on Friday in Calabar, with athletes who formerly represented USA dominating proceedings. The sudden emergence of former Americans at the Nigerian Championships is already causing a stir (and confusion) amongst fans and athletes alike.
The crown of Nigeria’s fastest man went to Former American Mark Jelks, representing Delta State. He was head and shoulders above the rest of the field, running an impressive 10.12s in the heats on Day 1, and following that up with victories in the semis and finals, both in times of 10.23s, into headwinds of -1.7 m/s and -2.3 m/s respectively. Second place went to another former US Athlete, Mozavous Arkezes Edwards, also representing Delta, who finished in 10.39s, with the defending champion Ogho-Oghone Egwero finishing third in 10.45s. Another former Champion on his comeback trail, Obinna Metu, finished a disappointing 5th place in 10.51s, and one must wonder now if he will ever reach the heights that made him Nigerian No. 1 and to go and train at Usain Bolt’s camp in Jamaica for a couple of month! Jelks was mobbed by Nigerian press after the race, and when asked about his family links to Nigeria, he told us that his ‘Papa’ (grandfather) was from Warri South!
22-year old Seye Ogunlewe, the most promising young Nigerian sprinter for some time now, finished 4th in 10.46s, and unfortunately misses out on an individual spot in the 100 metres for Nigeria at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow (he finished 2nd behind Egwero last year and has a PB of 10.23s set this year). This is an unfortunate consequence of having recruited the older Americans to Team Nigeria, and one can only hope that this young man will get his fair chance to represent Nigeria in the individual 100 metres soon. He should complete Nigeria’s quartet in the 4×100 metres which should now be strong enough to win a Commonwealth medal, after disappointing performances from our men’s relay teams in the past few years!
In the 100 metres hurdles, another newly converted Nigerian, Nichole Denby won the title in a time of 13.29s, while last year’s Champion Ugonna Ndu (13.57s) and Amaka Ogoebunam (13.71s), both US-based as well, finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. While Ugonna’s and Amaka’s links to Nigeria are clear from their names alone, Nichole’s link isn’t so obvious – when we caught up with her after her win, she told us that her great-grandfather on her mother’s side was Nigerian! In the 110 hurdles, yet another former US Athlete, Tyron ‘Toritseju’ Akins took the crown in a time of 13.66s, ahead of UK-based Alex Al-Ameen who posted 13.75s, and Martins Ogieriakhi who ran 13.93s. We caught up with Tyron after his win and he confirmed that you need to have Nigerian heritage to make the switch and that he was lucky enough to have found a link (deep) in his family tree!
In the past, athletes with clear immediate family links to Nigeria, such as Regina George and Gloria Asumnu, switched allegiance from the USA to Nigeria at different stages of their careers. Regina George especially is an exceptional athlete who represented USA as a junior and made the switch to Team Nigeria even though she was and still is good enough to compete for USA. But this new era of Nigerian Athletics we are currently witnessing is unlike anything we have ever seen before. We’re seeing athletes with questionable, distant links to Nigeria, supposedly in their heritage, switch from the USA to pitch tent for Nigeria in the twilight of their careers, most of whom have never represented USA at the highest level, at major championships.
Should we not be expending a lot more energy and resources ensuring that the best talents in Nigeria, such as Bahrain’s Kemi Adekoya and Qatar’s Femi Ogunode, do not switch in the first place? Can these Americans turned Nigerians take us to the promised land, which is to be as good as, or even better than the Americans and Jamaicans in the coming years? Tell us what YOU think. In the meantime, Making of Champions will be bringing you EXCLUSIVE interviews will ALL of the latest recruits to Team Nigeria – watch this space!
On Thursday Afternoon, Nigeria’s sprint queen Blessing Okagbare was the highlight of Day 1 of the National Athletics Championships, as she won a SIXTH CONSECUTIVE 100 metre national crown, a title she has not relinquished since she wrestled it from former sprinter queen Oludamola Osayomi in 2009.
Okagbare is mobbed by Nigerian media and fans alike following her 100m win at the Nigerian Trials
Just a couple of hours before her win, Blessing had won her semi-final impressively in 11.10s, easing down right from about 60 metres with an already sizeable lead, while Gloria Asumnu had won the other semi with an impressive Season’s Best (SB) of 11.15s, her fastest run since the London 2012 Olympics! This set the final up for another tantalising match up between the two US-based athletes. As expected, Okagbare retained her crown running her SB of 11.06s, while Asumnu finished 2nd in 11.17s.
Okagbare and Asumnu at the start-line of the 100 metre final at the 2014 Nigerian Trials
In a blanket finish for the distant third place, with only five hundredths of a seconds between third and sixth, home-based athlete Justina Sule came home in 11.63s, winning her first ever medal in the 100 metres at the National Championships, having competing there since 2004! Despite finishing over half a second behind Okagbare, it was very clear to see what the third place finish meant to her, her Ado-Ekiti based coach, and her people!
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Other highlights of Day 1 included the men’s 100 metres, where recent ‘convert’ to Nigeria, Mark Jelks, running the fastest time in the 100m heats (10.12s) by some distance. Defending Champion Ogho-Oghene Egwero only managed 10.30s winning his heat, while former Champion Obinna Metu on his comeback trail won his heat in 10.25s, ahead of fast-improving youngster Divine Oduduru who ran a lifetime best of 10.30s. Others to watch out for who ran well in the heats include Peter Emelieze (10.23s) and UK-based Seye Ogunlewe. The men’s 100m semi-finals and finals today promise to be exciting!
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The women’s 400 metres, Nigeria’s STRONGEST event at the moment, was also a highlight of Day 1, with all FIVE of Nigeria’s World Relay Bronze-winning team on show. The most impressive was undoubtedly Regina George, who made it look easy winning her heat in an SB of 51.30s. She will be looking to improve her PB of 50.84s, set at the World Championships in Moscow, in the final today! Other impressive qualifiers were her fellow world relay medallists, Sade Abugan (51.54s), Patience Okon George (51.94s) and Omolara Omotosho (52.13s), while Ada Benjamin (52.35s) pipped Bukola Abogunloko (52.70s) for the win in the final heat. The final is stacked, and if we’re lucky we could see at least 3 of these girls running under 51 seconds soon, if not today!
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Finally, there is an intriguing contest developing in the women’s 100 metre hurdles. US-based Amaka Ogoegbunam won the 1st semi-final in13.52s, while yet another new ‘convert’ from the US, Nicole Denby took the 2nd semi in 13.32s, ahead of defending champion Ugonna Ndu (also US-based) in 13.53s, setting up a tantalising prospect for the final – are American athletes switching allegiance about to take over Team Nigeria for the Commonwealth Games? All will be clear after Days 2 and 3 of the Nigerian Trials – stay tuned!
Nicole Denby, Nigeria’s latest ‘convert’ to switch from USA, won her 100m Hurdles semi-final at the 2014 Nigerian Trials in 13.32s, ahead of Defending Champion Ugonna Ndu in 13.53s
In times past, countries from the southern part of the African continent were not regarded as good producers of the world’s best runners, but recently, Botswana, which was once considered a minnow in Africa and the world athletics stage, is proving that innate talent can be found in any part of the world irrespective of […]
The breakthrough performances of many South African athletes in 2014 has confirmed the country’s status as the reigning powerhouse of athletics on the continent. There is no denying that South Africa’s dominance in African athletics, took a sharp nosedive since their triumph at the 2008 African Championships in Addis Ababa, which completed a hat-trick of […]
In the sporting world, Cote d’ Ivoire is well known as a power house in African football , and globally for the production of stars such as Didier Drogba, the Toure brothers (Kolo and Yaya), and a host of other big names. About a decade ago, suggesting that the West African country would produce a […]
On Tuesday we started the countdown of our TOP 12 athletics performers whom we think stood out exceptionally well for the Green-White-Green of Nigeria, listing Nos. 12-7. We now conclude the series with Nos. 6-1! 6. FOLASHADE ABUGAN: The 2014 season couldn’t have gone much better for Abugan, given that teammate Regina George started the […]
Team Nigeria athletes put up a commendable outing during the 2014 Athletics season. Some athletes stood out based on their individual performances, personal records and medals won in their various events. Here’s a countdown of the TOP 12 athletics performers whom we think stood out exceptionally well for the Green-White-Green of Nigeria: 12. CHINWE OKORO: […]
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