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African Games – Brume Wins Gold, Sets New Record

With this impressive feat, Brume not only defended her 2019 title but also set a new Games record, surpassing the previous mark of 6.79m that stood since 2007.

Team Nigeria athletes are not only winning medals at the ongoing African Games in Ghana, they are doing so in record-breaking fashion.

The latest is Ese Brume who on Thursday soared to a first-round jump of 6.92m to secure gold in the women’s Long Jump event

With this impressive feat, Brume not only defended her 2019 title but also set a new Games record, surpassing the previous mark of 6.79m that stood since 2007.

Brume’s victory has also seen her punch her ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympics, where she will be hoping to improve on the bronze medal she won last time out at the Tokyo Olympics Games.

Also, with this win, Brume becomes the second Nigerian Long Jumper in African Games history to successfully defend her title.

Modupe Oshikoya achieved this feat in 1973 and 1978.

Brume also joins an elite group of nine Nigerian women who have defended their African Games titles, including legends like Mary Onyali and Tobi Amusan

While Brume is making the headlines with her gold medal, another youngster on the horizon Prestina Ochonogor is also getting accolades for her remarkable achievement in the women’s Long Jump event

Ochonogor claimed the bronze medal with a personal best of 6.67m in what is only her first international outing.

Unfortunately, the third Nigerian in the Long Jump event, Ruth Usoro, narrowly missed the podium with a 6.62m jump.

Nigerian trio in the 200m Semifinals

Consider Ekanem and Alaba Akintola secured their spots in the men’s 200m final with scorching times of 20.92s (-1.2) and 21.00s (-0.9) respectively.

Akintola dominated his semifinal heat, leaving no room for doubt.

Meanwhile, Olajide Olayinka will be the sole Nigerian representative in the women’s 200m final after her heat win of 23.51s (-2.3).

Already, Team Nigeria has garnered eight gold medals from track and field events at the ongoing African Games in Ghana, and more is still expected as athletics event ends on Friday.

 

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My son thinks Mbappe is better than me – Ronaldo

Mbappé: Would Have Been 'Fun' To Play With Cristiano Ronaldo

Al Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed that his five-year-old son, Mateo, favors Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé over him.

Ronaldo, who netted a brace over the weekend to climb to the top of the Saudi Pro League scoring charts, admitted the surprising preference during an interview with La Sexta.

“Mateo really likes Mbappé,” Ronaldo shared. “He sometimes tells me: ‘Hey dad, Mbappé is better than you,’ and I reply by saying: ‘No, I am better than him, I have scored more goals.'”

The humorous exchange highlights the influence of Mbappé, who famously idolized Ronaldo during his youth. Despite Mateo’s playful comments, the 39-year-old football legend continues to shine on the pitch.

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Dikko Hosts Olympians, Assures On Retired Athletes Welfare

That the labours of the nation’s past heroes will not be in vain, the National Sports Commission (NSC) will prioritize the welfare of retired athletes and olympians who had excelled in the national colours. NSC Chairman Mallam Shehu Dikko gave this assurance while hosting the Nigeria Olympians Association (NOA) led by its President Olumide Oyedeji.

In Dikko’s opinion, one way to encourage the current athletes is by ensuring that the retired ones are not disregarded.

His words, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not toying with the welfare of our athletes generally, but particularly our ex-internationals. It is his mandate and we have keyed into it. There is a budget line for the welfare of retired athletes. It may not be much but that’s a good starting point. It means that every year, something will be mapped out for the upkeep of our retired athletes. That money will be judiciously used. But we have to be specific. Not just any retired athlete, we are referring to athletes who wore these green and white colours and we can vouch for them. We want you to feel that Nigeria cares for you.”

There is also good news for athletes with unfulfilled past promises from the government.

“There is also a budget line to fulfill past promises government made to athletes. We know that there had been situations in the past when athletes excelled, they were made financial promises and even some have passed on without those promises being fulfilled. We have a catalogue of those promises and Mr. President has graciously approved a budget line for that purpose. With this development, we will be redeeming those promises gradually. Every year there should be a block funding to sort that out.”

The association’s request for an ‘entourage commission’ which would see the olympians serve as mentors to athletes at major sporting events got a glowing endorsement from the NSC helmsman.

He said, “The issue of entourage commission is one that I am committed to. In fact, we will push to make it a bill so that it becomes a law to have these retired athletes who have seen it all accompany our athletes to Games. There is a huge psychological boost the presence of these great olympians will have on the athletes having them side by side at the Games.”

Dikko eulogized the olympians for their past exploits that brought honour to the nation and promised to engage them more in the Commission’s activities.

“The major reason why the President set up the Commission is for the professionalization of the sector. Who are the core professionals? It is people like you. We will look at the involvement of the olympians in our programs. If you have the right people on the table, you get quality representation”, he added.

He drummed up the Commission’s aggressive grassroots sports development drive in a bid to strengthen the conveyor belt for talents and replace the retired athletes.

“We are doing things differently now. We have set up the three Rs, reset, refocus and relaunch. We are moving our sports from the emphasis on competitions which is consumption to development which is production. This entails that we have to be deliberate in our grassroots development of sports, the schools sports, NUGA, NIPOGA, NACEGA Games. We have struggled to replace most of you retired athletes over the years because of this neglect for the grassroots. We are changing all that now”, he said.

He promised equal attention to all sports.

“We are not a football Commission. We are here for all sports. In this this commission we are working to advance all sports and even in the last week we have held meetings with baseball, motorsports, hockey, volleyball, taekwondo, armwrestling, polo all manner of sports you can think of. We are doing sports development and sports economy here and every sport has the potentials to be a huge revenue generator for the country. We want the Federations to be serious and show proof of development of the sport with domestic tournaments. We fully keyed into what the Cricket U-19 team is doing in Malaysia because even before that tournament you could see the visible efforts of the Federation to unearth and develop talents”, he concluded.

Dikko pledged his support for the upcoming Olympians reunion tagged “the labour of our heroes past.”

Highpoint of the meeting was the induction of the NSC Chairman as an olympian, an act which according to the association, accords him the full privileges and rights of an olympian.

The NOA delegation comprised of Olumide Oyedeji (President), Lawrence Iquaibom (1st Vice-president), Chief Falilat Ogunkoya-Osheku, Emmanuel Babayaro (Secretary), Hameed Adio, Emmanuel Oshoma and Olusegun Ajose. Also present at the event was SSA to the President on Grassroots Sports Development Adeyinka Adeboye ‘Zulu’.

 

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Adams eager to make impact at Sevilla

Akor Adams

Nigerian forward Jerome Adams is determined to make his mark at La Liga club Sevilla after completing his move from Ligue 1 side Montpellier.

The 25-year-old, who spent one-and-a-half seasons at Montpellier, scored three goals and provided one assist before joining Sevilla.

After signing his contract, Adams watched Sevilla’s 2-2 draw with Espanyol and expressed his excitement for the future.

“There is a lot of history at this club and I am here to be part of this history and also to try to write my own,” Adams told Sevilla’s official website.

“Both my family and I are very happy. It has been a great welcome and for me, it is a great (25th) birthday present.”

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