It happened on Thursday night at the Yar Adua Conference centre, Abuja.

Some of the most outstanding athletes in Nigeria’s Olympic sports in the past six decades (therefore all Olympians), assembled for a special bi-annual re-union organised to remind their government and prick the conscience of Nigerians about the pledge embedded permanently in eternal words within their national anthem, words passionately sung by the athletes when going into ‘battle’ in their sports: “the Labour of our heroes past, shall never be in vain”.

It was a very emotional night for me because I was given the privileged role of delivering the dinner-talk.

Unfortunately, that meant waiting till the tail end of the event, when all the awards would have been given, tributes paid ànd the lavish citation of awardees read and dinner served.

Emmanuel Babayaro, the Secretary-General of the Nigerian Olympians Association, called me after the event and lamented that it was a poor idea to have put my speech after dinner, because soon after, the big hall emptied of the invited guests.

My dinner-talk ended up as a sermon to the Olympians. It was meant to take the audience into the world of Olympic athletes, to be presented from my personal first-hand experience of the Olympics since 1968 to date. It was to serve also as a reminder of what it takes and what it means to be an Olympian.

Before going into how that turned out, permit me to tell you about the award and awardees.

The hall was packed with awardees and their ‘supporters’. The most notable recipients included the Deputy-Governor of Edo State, the wife of the immediate past Governor of Benue State, the immediate past Minister of Sport, the President of the Nigerian Olympic Committee, and several other outstanding athletes from past Olympic games.

All of that went well.
Then, my sermon.

My earliest impression about the Olympics, derived from Greek mythology, is that the the sports events at the Games were the pastime of gods on Mount Olympus. The gods would run, jump and fight to the cheers of the large population of angels. Humans were not in the picture.

The news from Mexico that hit the airwaves with a bang in Nigeria was that the Green Eagles, the national team of Nigeria, that quietly went to football’s first Olympic Games, had held ‘giant’ Brazil to an unbelievable 3-3 draw! That attracted every Nigerian’s attention.

It was the first realisation that humans took part in the Olympics. Our footballers were human. We were familiar with them. They were flesh and blood. The Olympic ‘gods’ were actually human: Peter Fregene, Inua Lawal Rigogo, Samuel Garba, Peter Anieke, and so on. It shattered a myth.

Last Thursday night, for the first time since that team returned to Nigeria in the summer of 1968, the Nigerian Olympians Association, invited three surviving members of that historic team to Abuja to honour them.

They were celebrated and given special awards. The gladiators were Durojaiye Adigun, Ganiyu Salami and Kenneth Olayombo. Kenneth actually scored two goals in that memorable match.

Four years later in 1972, now freed from the psychological prison that Olympians were not human, a Nigerian boxer went to the Munich Games and fought his way to Nigeria’s first medal, a Bronze. Last Thursday night, Isaac Ikhuoria was present to receive his well deserved award.

Since Ikhuoria, boxing has become a good source of medals for Nigeria at the Games.

In 1976, Nigeria, now fully prepared for an onslaught on the Theatre of dreams, took probably the most powerful squad in the country’s history to the Montreal Olympics. The team was pulled out of the Games at the last minute to ‘fight’ a global political cause, and the athletes, therefore, missed out on fulfilling their greatest dreams.

Moscow 1980 was a most uneventful Olympics. It was marred by the politics of the Cold War between the USA and the USSR over Afghanistan. Taking a page from the book of the consequence of the 1976 boycott, led by Nigeria and Tanzania, the USA led their own boycott of the Mosçow games by Western countries.

The power of sport was now evident, a tool that can be deployed to serve various purposes even outside of sport.

FoU Nigeria, Moscow was barren.

1984, Los Angeles Games. The USSR avenged the treatment by the USA in 1980. They marred the Games with their own boycott, along with their allies.

But Nigerians seized the opportunity to make their mark. Led by Innocent Egbunike, Henry Amike, and a superb 4 x 400m relay quartet, they resumed their Olympic hunt for medals with the country’s first Silver medal in Track and Field.

In 1988, in Seoule, South Korea, Nigeria had a large squad that included football again and tennis for the first time.

For some reason, it was more memorable for its lack of medals.

At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, it was both historical and memorable for right and wrong reasons. On the eve of the Games, one of the fastest girls in the world was a Nigerian. Along with a few others, she was charged and suspended for drugs usage.

FoU Nigeria, it was a shattering development, particularly for àthletes that had spent 4 previous years, come rain, come shine, pounding the tracks and the fields in search of a few seconds, minutes or even milimetres that could change their lives forever.

Meanwhile, some other athletes wrote their names in the history books at Barcelona ’92. Mary Onyali led a quartet relay team that also included Christy Okpara-Thompson to run a race that defined the true essence of ‘winning’ at the Olympics. Thè quartet came third but were celebrated more than the teams that came first and second because of the manner they celebrated third place. Mary and Christy were in Abuja last Thursday and were both celebrated.

The 1996 Atlanta Games came and became the best Olympics for Nigeria, ever.

For Chioma Ajunwa, it marked a vindication. From the depths of hell four years before, she emerged, rose and became the brightest star in the constellation with a performance and a result of a life time. Her Gold medal remains Nigeria’s only individual Gold medal to date.

Her victory opened the flood gates to more victories: a second Gold Medal in Football; Silver medals and Bronze medals in other events.

At this point, Nigerian athletes had joined the club of gods and goddesses of the Olympics.

From Atlanta Nigeria finally launched into the spirit of the Olympics as proper and equal contenders.

From Sydney 2000 and thereafter, a new generation of gods and goddesses was born and bred. Some of them were remembered and received awards last Thursday night.

It was indeed, a great night of bright Stars.

Through the generations of these gods and goddesses, I had been a LIVE witness.

I am thinking.

Why would I, an ordinary football player, without any imprint on the Olympics landscape, be the one to tell the story of Olympians?

I think my purpose for being an Olympian is to be a part of it in order to document them, experience what it takes to be an Olympian and to regularly remind the athletes that it is the hardest status to achieve in sports. That it is a long, lonely, expensive, hard, and challenging journey, strewn all the way with the requirements of self-sacrifice, hard work, highest level of discipline, single-mindedness, supreme patience, pain, failures, injuries and disappointments.

Yet, at the end, all of these come down to a few seconds, or minutes, of competing and hoping to win against the very best opponents in the world.

It is no mean feat and should not be treated with levity, laxity, or, worst of all, taken for granted. It is hard! If others do not, Olympians must constantly remind themselves and each other of their hard-earned successes and sacrifices in sport.

They must always remind themselves never to forget what Nelson Mandela said about the power of sport to change the world. His life was influenced greatly by the boycott of 1976 when Nigerian athletes led other African patriots to make the ultimate sacrifice to boycott the Games and support his cause and that of his people in South Africa.

That sacrifice was party responsible for the end of Apartheid in South Africa, Mandela’s release from jail, his ascension as the first Black President of a new South Africa, and granting the hosting rights of the first FIFA World Cup to be held in Africa to South Africa.

That ‘power’ of sport is still available and must be deployed creatively by Nigeriàn Olympians to change their lives, impact their country and make the world a better place.

They can do those things if only they always remember that, indeed, they are gods and goddesses!

The most hotly anticipated tennis match of the year takes place today as Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic face off in a historic match.

Mayra Bueno Silva defeats Holly Holm via submission (standing guillotine) at 0:38 of round 2

Mayra Bueno Silva just picked up what is undoubtedly the biggest win of her career.

The fight ended with a rare standing guillotine/ninja choke against the fence, giving Mayra her third consecutive submission inside the octagon. The Brazilian endured a close opening round with Holm before seizing the opportunity as Holly pushed her against the fence. Mayra had the choke locked in tight immediately and even maintained control as Holm spun them around in an attempt to break free.

Bueno Silva is now tied with Ronda Rousey for the most submission wins in women’s bantamweight history (3). This is only the second time in Holm’s career that she has lost by submission, with the first coming at UFC 196 against Meisha Tate.

Mayra followed up on her victory (which earned a performance bonus) with a very vulnerable and inspiring post-fight interview detailing her struggles with life:

“Recently I found myself in a huge huge depression, I thought that life was not worth it anymore – find somebody, go and talk (to them), reach out to somebody. The victory is always there.”

Mayra Bueno Silva (Fabiano Buskei translation) post-fight UFC Vegas 77

Jack Della Maddalena defeats Bassil Hafez via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Jack Della Maddalena finally got his chance to fight after he had two opponents pull out of bouts scheduled for UFC 290, and a fight is certainly what he got.

Bassil Hafez was able to trouble JDM early on with the threat of some takedowns and a willingness to exchange in the pocket. 14 men previously attempted to fight in a phone booth with Jack Della Maddalena and they were all punished heavily for it; Hafez actually performed well in that area early on. Jack was able to find some more success in the second round, almost finishing Hafez. The third round was even more in Jack’s favor as he had Hafez on wobbly legs multiple times.

In the end, JDM went the distance for the first time in his UFC run and got the victory. He even threw a small dig at the judges during his post-fight interview, despite being crowned the winner:

“I thought it could go either way. So, when I heard it was a split- the judges always don’t make good decisions so, (we) might have a good show.”

Jack Della Maddalena post-fight UFC Vegas 77

Other Results:

Francisco Prado defeats Ottman Azaitar via TKO at 4:05 of round 1

Francisco Prado dropped Ottman Azaitar with a spinning elbow and followed up with thunderous ground and pound to get the finish. Azaitar was desperately hanging on as Prado continued his ground assault. Eating unanswered punches in the process, Ottman received a stern “fight back” from the referee; Ottman decided to give a thumbs up to the ref as Prado was fully postured up raining down fight-ending shots. The ref quickly called the fight off, and Ottman protested heavily soon after.

Jun Yong Park defeats Albert Duraev via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:45 of round 2

Jun Yong Park picked up yet another submission win and is now tied for the second-longest active win streak in the middleweight division (four consecutive victories, Du Plessis holds a six-fight win streak). After dropping Duraev with a short left elbow, “The Iron Turtle” swarmed him hunting for the submission. Once he flattened Duraev out from the back position, Park sank in a rear-naked choke and ended the contest, with a victory dance to boot.

Norma Dumont defeats Chelsea Chandler via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Norma Dumont extended her win streak to three in a row with a decisive victory over Chelsea Chandler. Dumont looked impressive in the sense that she won virtually all aspects of this fight, but her performance was ultimately overshadowed by Chelsea Chandler’s 40-yard dash:

Nazim Sadykhov defeats Terrance McKinney via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:07 of round 2

Nazim Sadykhov got off a beautiful submission (with a bit of help from grabbing the cage) and finished Terrance McKinney early on in the second. That’s six consecutive finishes and nine straight victories overall for the Ray Longo product. Nazim was able to trap one of Terrance’s arms with his left leg from the back position, leaving McKinney with just one limb to defend himself. Keep an eye out for Nazim Sadykhov, he may be one of those fighters that climbs the ranks quicker than most given his level of competition just one year into his UFC run.

Novak Djokovic will be taking on Carlos Alcaraz in the Men's Single's final of the ongoing Wimbledon 2023 on Sunday. World number one and US Open winner Alcaraz, playing only his fourth grass-court tournament, defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. Djokovic, the reigning Australian Open and French Open champion, reached his ninth final at the All England Club and record 35th at the Grand Slams by seeing off Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4). 

On Sunday, the 36-year-old world number two will attempt to equal Roger Federer's mark of eight Wimbledon titles and Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 majors.

[Sports.ndtv]

Unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova stunned Ons Jabeur 6-4 6-4 to win the Wimbledon women's singles final on Saturday.

There have been a string of surprise Grand Slam winners in a period of flux for the women's game but Wimbledon had been the exception until now, with Vondrousova taking advantage of a nervous performance from the Tunisian to claim a stunning victory.

Vondrousova climbed up the stands Pat Cash-style to hug her team in the players' box, while Jabeur sat disconsolately in her chair.

She said: "I don't know what's happening now. Ons, congratulations, you're such an inspiration for all of us, I hope you are going to win one day.

"After everything I've been through - I had a cast on this time last year - and now I can't believe I'm holding this trophy."

Vondrousova's husband Stepan, who has been at home looking after their pet cat for the last two weeks, managed to make it for the final and a double celebration.

"It's amazing, tomorrow is our first wedding anniversary," she added.

Vondrousova has a penchant for tattoos, but asked if she would be getting another to mark her achievement, she said: "I made a bet with my coach that if I won a Grand Slam he's going to get one also. I think we'll go tomorrow [Sunday].

"I think I'm going to have some beer. It's been an exhausting few weeks."

In a topsy-turvy opening set Jabeur, the sixth seed, led by a break of serve at 4-2 but was immediately broken to love by the Czech world No 42.

A bad miss from the Tunisian gave Vondrousova two more break points and another unforced error put the underdog 5-4 ahead.

Vondrousova comfortably served out to love, making just six unforced errors in a 40-minute opening set.

Jabeur's collapse continued at the start of the second set, handing Vondrousova the initiative by dropping serve in the first game.

She fought back by winning three successive games but, just as she had in the first set, Vondrousova proved too strong towards the end.

She produced a nervy display under the Centre Court roof, however, and Vondrousova, who had wrist surgery last year and missed the tournament, stayed cool to claim the title to become the first unseeded woman to win the title.

The Czech had her own supporters, including husband Stepan Simek, who had passed over the responsibility of looking after their cat Frankie to fly to London for the final.

This was not the 24-year-old's first time on such a stage having burst through as a 19-year-old at the French Open in 2019 before losing in the final to Ashleigh Barty.

Injuries had prevented her building on that, and she came to London as a tourist last summer during Wimbledon with her wrist in a cast after two operations.

Just eight months ago, she was ranked outside the top 100 and winning a title in the rather less glamorous surroundings of The Shrewsbury Club in Shropshire.

Vondrousova adds her name to the storied list of Czech Grand Slam champions including Jana Novotna, Petra Kvitova, Barbora Krejcikova, and Marketa Vondrousova.

Jabeur was bidding to become the first Arab player to win a Grand Slam title and the first African woman to win one of the four majors.

The Tunisian, last year's losing finalist as well, broke down in tears after receiving her runners-up trophy from the Princess of Wales.

"This is very tough. It's the most painful loss of my career," she said.

"Congratulations to Marketa and her team. You are an amazing player, I know you had a lot of injuries and I'm very happy for you.

"It's going to be a tough day for me today [Saturday] but I'm not going to give up. I'm going to come back stronger."

Jabeur thanked the crowd for their support and then added: "I promise I'll come back one day and win this tournament."

[Skysport]

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has stripped Nigeria of the gold medal won in the women’s 4×100 meters event at Birmingham 2022.

The quartet of Tobi Amusan, Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma and Grace Nwokocha claimed gold in the 4×100 meters race during last year’s Commonwealth Games (CWG).

Nwokocha, who ran the anchor leg for Nigeria, however, failed a doping test during the competition after ostarine and lingadrol were found in her sample A urine.

Consequently, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) handed her a provisional suspension, banning her from the sport.

“The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) can confirm that the Commonwealth Games Federation Court has issued their decision regarding an in-competition sample provided by Ms Nwokocha, who competed in Athletics at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games,” the statement reads.

The federation added that Nwokocha’s case has been forwarded to AIU for further consequence.

Following the court verdict, England, which initially finished second, will get the gold medal, Jamaica will be upgraded to silver while Australia will have the bronze.

[TheCable]

Kenya Morans pipped Nigeria 61-59 in a FIBA AfroCan classification clash at the Pavilhao Multiusos de Luanda arena in Angola on Friday.

The Kenyans who were felled 55-46 by Morocco in their quarter-finals encounter on Thursday, will now take on Tunisia on Saturday for the fifth/sixth slot.

The North Africans managed a 61-56 victory against sad host Angola in another closely contest match-up played before the semi-finals. 

Cliff Owour's charges took off to a good start, leading 20-13 in the first quarter. But the D'Tigers stormed to an 18-13 edge in the second quarter as Kenya hanged on 33-31 at halftime.

After resumption, Kenya were down 13-11 at the end of the third stanza before taking the decisive quarter 17-15 and the game on two foul shots by captain Victor Bosire with 0:14 left to play.

Debutant Bramwell Mwombe was Kenya's toast as he came up with 13 points to lead the tally. Nigeria's Daniel Daramola registered a game-high of 14 points.

Kenya, who won the silver medal in the 2019 championship in Bamako, Mali, suffered a 55-46 defeat at the hands of Morocco.

They are 2-2 in the tournament after beating Ivory Coast 62-52 before going down 66-63 to Gabon in their second group phase game. The 12 teams spectacle comes to an end in the Angolan capital city on Sunday.

[the-star.co.ke]

AC Milan’s new signing, Christian Pulisic has opened up about his time at his former club, Chelsea FC. Pulisic joined Milan for 22 million euros and signed a four-year deal with the club.

The 24-year-old American joined Chelsea from Borussia Dortmund in 2019 and made 145 appearances during his four seasons with Chelsea, scoring 26 goals and adding 21 assists.

Pulisic admitted that he could have been given more opportunities to prove himself at the club while speaking with ESPN.

“Of course there are definitely times where I wish I could’ve gotten more of an opportunity and been that guy, but yeah, for whatever reason, that’s not the case, and like I said, I’m just so excited for this new challenge, and I’m definitely ready and up for it.”

Speaking on his new adventure, he said

Obviously, I want a fair opportunity like everyone else to have the chance to come here. I still need to earn my place, of course, but it felt like I was wanted here, and I have a great opportunity, if I show good effort, good attitude every day and train well, that I’m going to get the opportunity to go out and perform.”

He will reunite with Olivier Giroud, Fikayo Tomori, and Reuben Loftus Cheek at the club

[OpinionNigeria]

Air Peace CEO, Allen Onyema, firmly believes that the secondary school football teams of the 1980s would triumph over the present-day Super Eagles if they were to meet on the pitch, The PUNCH reports.

The Nigeria senior team has only won four of their nine games under new manager Jose Peseiro, losing the remaining five, with the side scoring 18 goals and conceding 15.

Perhaps, the recent results may have influenced Onyema’s assertion.

“Those days used to be very tough. In fact, secondary school games in those days used to be tough. I remember when I played for Government College, Ughelli, they even killed one of our school boys in Agbarho (Delta State). It used to be tough in those days,” Onyema told The PUNCH.

“Let me tell you, secondary school teams in the 70s will beat our national team of today. The present national team will be nowhere near the secondary school teams of yesteryear. I’m not talking about clubs, those days, secondary school teams were unlike these days,” he said.

“Today, secondary schools are now in two-storey buildings, no compound, no playground. Everybody is protective of their child, nobody allows the child to go out again to experience the street life,” Onyema added.

He advocated for the use of football as a means to generate employment opportunities and called on the government to prioritise sports.

“We should use football to create jobs. I call on this government to look into sports, if they can invest in it and make the place safe for people to go and recreate on weekends, we will bring back that followership. It will still happen again,” the entrepreneur said.

Former welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman has declared his willingness to take on Conor McGregor because they both share similar career trajectories.

Since headlining UFC 286 in London, when he lost to Leon Edwards in the rubber match for the trilogy title, Usman, the top-ranked welterweight contender, hasn’t participated in any competitions.

On the other hand, since McGregor suffered a serious leg injury during a contest with Dustin Poirier, the 34-year-old Irish mixed martial artist, who formerly held the undisputed lightweight and featherweight crowns, has yet to make an appearance inside the Octagon.

Usman and the welterweight division have not yet engaged in combat even though McGregor is reportedly interested in the fight for quite some time now.

McGregor hasn’t yet re-joined the USADA testing pool, therefore according to UFC president Dana White, his future in mixed martial arts is in doubt.

After Usman’s scheduled fight with Khamzat Chimaev was rescheduled, he extended an invitation to McGregor to a showdown in place of the rescheduled fight.

Because both fighters are looking to bounce back from recent setbacks, UFC enthusiasts are extremely intrigued by the potential fight between Usman and McGregor.

In an interview with the press ahead of the UFC 290, Kamaru Usman said, “Conor (McGregor) said he’s always wanted to fight me at 170 pounds, so that makes sense.

“I’m not the champ any more, so, hey, let’s do it.”

While UFC president Dana White added, “We’ll see how that plays out… I don’t talk about sh*t until sh*t happens, you know what I mean?”