IN PARIS OLYMPICS
Nigeria’s D’Tigress lost 74-88 to the United States in the quarter finals, bringing to end a spirited run that saw the team break several records.
The defeat ends Nigeria’s participation in the women’s Olympic Basketball event at the ongoing Paris Olympics.
Rena’s Wakama’s side put up a fight in the final quarter to win 26-12, but it was not enough as United States side held on to their lead to book a semi-final spot.
Nigeria lost the first three quarters 17-26, 16-26, and 15-24.
During their participation, they got their first ever win at the Olympics and became the first African side to qualify to the quarter-finals of an Olympics basketball competition.
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Nigeria’s flag bearer at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Tobi Amusan has qualified for the one hundred metre hurdles semi-finals in the ongoing 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Amusan led the pack of eight athletes with 12.49 seconds, followed by America’s Alaysha Johnson with 12.61 and Jamaica’s Janeek Brown qualified with 12.84 seconds.
Meanwhile, Amusan is optimistic of claiming the gold medal in the women’s one hundred metres hurdles at the 2024 Olympic Games.
The semi-finals will hold on 9th August, while the final is slated for the penultimate day of the athletics event, 10th August.
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Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel finished fifth in the men’s four hundred metres hurdles semi-finals of the Paris Olympic games.
Nathaniel crossed the line in a time of 48.65 seconds which was not good enough for a place in the final.
Nigeria also missed out in the men’s two hundred metres final following Udodi Onwuzurike’s failure to qualify.
Onwuzurike came in seventh in the race, clocking a time of 20.72, hence missing out.
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Nigeria’s Christianah Ogunsanya has lost her round of sixteen wrestling bout in the women’s freestyle fifty-three kilograms event at the 2024 Olympic Games in France.
Ogunsanya lost 1-3 to Khulan Batkhuyag of Mongolia at the Champ-de-Mars Arena, Paris, making her the second team Nigeria’s casualty in the competition.
Another Nigerian athlete, Edose Ibadin failed to progress in the first round of the men’s eight hundred metres.
Ibadin will now battle for another chance in the make up round on Thursday.
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Team Nigeria’s Ese Ukpeseraye has dropped out of contention in the cycling track event of the Games.
Ukpeseraye first finished sixth and last in heat 1 of the women’s keirin first round, a race distance of six laps, at the National Velodrome.
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Team Nigeria’s sprinter, Favour Ofili, has described her performance in the Paris 2024 Olympic Women’s two hundred metres final as a gruelling task.
The sprinter, who ran in lane 9, ended up in 6th place with a time of 22.24 seconds, admitted she gave her best but expressed disappointment over her sixth position feat.
Prior to her campaign in the two hundred metres, Ofili was upset over her exclusion from the one hundred metres race, blaming the Athletics Federation of Nigeria and the Nigeria Olympic Committee for an oversight.
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Nigeria will begin campaigning in the 4x100m relays of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games today, having been drawn in heats 1 and 2 of the men’s and women’s categories, with the latter having a seemingly more difficult route to the final.
The Nigerian men’s team, comprising Favour Ashe, Godson Oghenebrume, Kayinsola Ajayi, Udodi Onwuzurike, Usheoritse Itsekiri, and Alaba Akintola, will be running in lane 2 against the Netherlands (3), South Africa (4), Great Britain (5), USA (6), Japan (7), Italy (8), and Australia (9).
The women’s team of Favour Ofili, Tima Godbless, Rosemary Chukwuma, Olayinka Olajide, and Justina Eyakpobeyan will fancy their chances of progressing to the next stage, running in lane 4 against Trinidad and Tobago (2), Spain (3), the Netherlands (5), France (6), Great Britain (7), Canada (8), and Jamaica (9).
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Great Britain won silver in the men’s team pursuit to secure a third medal in as many days in the Paris Olympic velodrome.
Ethan Hayter, Dan Bigham, Charlie Tanfield and Ethan Vernon were pipped to gold by Australia, who won the event for the first time since the 2004 Games.
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American Noah Lyles has the chance to become the first man since Usain Bolt to complete an Olympic sprint double after qualifying for the two hundred metres final at Paris 2024.
Lyles, who won one hundred metres gold by five-thousandths of a second from Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson in a dramatic photo finish, finished second in his semi-final in 20.08 seconds to Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo.
The Olympic men’s two hundred metres final takes place on Thursday.
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Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith has missed out on Olympic four hundred metres gold by four-hundredths of a second in a dramatic finish at Paris 2024.
Hudson-Smith improved his European record to 43.44 seconds but was pipped on the line by American Quincy Hall, who triumphed in a personal best 43.40 in a thrilling conclusion.
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The International Olympic Committee says Greek pole vaulter Eleni-Klaoudia Polak has been provisionally suspended from the Paris Olympics after failing a doping test.
Polak competed in the qualification round on Monday, clearing 4.20 metres, but failed to get over 4.40 metres and subsequently did not reach Wednesday’s final.
Polak, who also featured at Tokyo 2020, denies any wrongdoing.
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The Netherlands reached their sixth successive Olympic women’s hockey final with a 3-0 thrashing of Argentina in Paris.
Luna Noa Fokke put the Dutch ahead in the 21st minute before Laura Nunnink doubled the lead shortly before half-time.
Yibbi Jansen then scored from a penalty corner in the third quarter to all-but seal their place in the final.
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Australia’s Keegan Palmer won a thrilling skateboarding park final in Paris to retain his Olympic title.
Palmer set the tone in the preliminaries on Wednesday at Place de la Concorde with a top score of 93.78, and backed it up in the final.
American Tom Schaar took silver with Brazil’s Augusto Akio winning bronze.
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Australia hockey player Tom Craig has apologised after being released from custody in Paris following his arrest for allegedly buying cocaine.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said an individual was arrested for buying cocaine in the ninth arrondissement.
Craig was released with a warning and did not receive a fine.
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Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting secured a place in Saturday’s Olympic women’s featherweight final amid the ongoing controversy over her eligibility.
Lin and Imane Khelif are competing in Paris despite being disqualified from last year’s World Championships by the International Boxing Association after reportedly failing gender eligibility tests.
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The reallocated team figure skating medals from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics were finally handed out in Paris on Wednesday at the end of a lengthy doping saga.
Skaters from the United States and Japan were given their medals after Russia were dropped from gold to bronze following Kamila Valieva’s four-year ban for doping.
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With Tom Cruise widely predicted to engage in a death-defying stunt on the roof of the Stade de France, Sunday’s Paris Olympics closing ceremony promises a memorable passing of the five rings flag to Los Angeles.
Two weeks after the unprecedented complexity of the opening ceremony along the River Seine, there are big expectations for the show to wrap up the Games.
The closing ceremony will be a much shorter affair and will take place in more traditional fashion at France’s national stadium.
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NIGERIA
Former Nigerian international Dimeji Lawal has advised the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, to appoint a substantive coach early for the Super Eagles before the commencement of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Lawal urged the NFF to make an announcement early in a bid to give the coach time to relate with the team.
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Super Falcons coach Randy Waldrum has expressed his desire to remain in charge of the team despite the team’s poor showing at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Waldrum stated that he would like to keep on going and inject new blood into the team and take them beyond the next Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
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Lobi Stars will square up against Nasarawa United in a pre-season friendly on Thursday.
The encounter will hold at the Divine Mercy Minor Seminary School, Makurdi.
The two teams will also clash in the second friendly at the Lafia City Stadium on Friday.
The friendlies will put the two teams in shape ahead of the start of the new season.
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Egypt’s star, Omar Assar, has overtaken Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna as the highest-ranked African player.
Assar moved up five places to secure the 17th spot in the International Table Tennis Federation, ITTF, rankings.
According to a press release from ITTF Africa, Assar’s rise to the 17th spot is a testament to his impressive performance at the Paris 2024 Olympic Men’s Singles event, which propelled him to the top of African table tennis, surpassing Quadri Aruna, who now occupies the 20th place.
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ENGLAND
Arsenal continued their pre-season preparations with an impressive 4-1 win over German champions Bayer Leverkusen at Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners, playing their first home game since the final day of last season, raced into an early 2-0 lead through goals by Oleksandr Zinchenko and Leandro Trossard.
Gabriel Jesus capitalised on a loose Leverkusen throw-in to run clear and make it 3-0 before the interval.
Bukayo Saka came off the bench to create the fourth with a clever cut-back, which former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka helplessly prodded towards Germany forward Kai Havertz who reacted quickly to score.
Leverkusen, who finished unbeaten in last season’s Bundesliga, claimed a late consolation through Adam Hlozek.
Arsenal are at home again on Sunday when they face Lyon in the Emirates Cup.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Cameron Archer scored a late solo winner as Aston Villa edged past Athletic Bilbao 3-2 at Walsall’s Bescot Stadium.
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Chelsea are working on a deal to sign Spanish forward Samu Omorodion from Atletico Madrid.
The Spanish side agreed an eighty-one point five million pounds deal to sign Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez and selling Omorodion will help raise funds to buy the Argentine.
Meanwhile in a separate deal, Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher has agreed to join Atletico for thirty-three million pounds.
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Tottenham have identified Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke as a major target before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.
Solanke is believed to be ready to take the next step and join a club playing in Europe to help boost his England chances.
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Liverpool are exploring a move for Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi as they look to make their first signing under new manager Arne Slot.
Zubimendi has been at Sociedad since 2011 and has a release clause worth fifty-one point five million pounds.
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United States defender Tim Ream has left Fulham to join Major League Soccer side Charlotte FC.
Ream spent nine seasons at Fulham and made three hundred and twelve appearances.
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Lee Carsley is expected to be the interim manager of the England men’s senior team when they play their Nations League games against the Republic of Ireland and Finland next month.
Carsley led England Under-21s as they won the European Championship in 2023 for the first time in thirty-nine years.
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OTHER LEAGUE
Spain captain Alvaro Morata and team-mate Rodri have been banned for one game by Uefa after they chanted Gibraltar is Spanish during their side’s Euro 2024 victory celebrations.
The Gibraltar Football Association made an official complaint about the celebrations to European football’s governing body before the pair were charged.
Uefa has now suspended Morata and Rodri for failing to comply with the general principles of conduct, for violating the basic rules of decent conduct, for using sporting events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature and for bringing the sport of football, and Uefa in particular, into disrepute.
They are banned for Spain’s next game, which is against Serbia on 5th September.
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Argentina president Javier Milei has condemned the vandalisation of Lionel Messi’s apartment in Spain by climate change activists.
Reacting to the incident, Milei, via his official X handle, called for the Spanish government to guarantee the safety of Argentine citizens.
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OTHER SPORTS
In Boxing, Francis Ngannou will face Renan Ferreira on his return to MMA on 19th October.
The Cameroon heavyweight will make his promotional debut for the Professional Fighters League, PFL, having previously been a champion in the UFC.
On the undercard, long-time Bellator featherweight champion Cris Cyborg will face PFL two-weight champion Larissa Pacheco.
Winners of both contests will receive the PFL’s newly established super-fights championship belt.
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The newly crowned UFC welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad, has set his sights on a potential bout with former champion Kamaru Usman for his first title defense.
Muhammad, who recently defeated Leon Edwards at UFC 304 to claim the championship, has expressed his eagerness to defend his title promptly, a contrast to many fighters who often take a hiatus after reaching the pinnacle.
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McLaren Formula 1 boss Zak Brown says he is surprised to find the team in a battle with Red Bull for the world championship this season.
McLaren trail Red Bull by just forty-two points in the constructors’ championship as the season heads into its final ten races.
McLaren were one hundred and fifteen points behind Red Bull after the sixth race of the season, the Miami Grand Prix, where their driver Lando Norris took his maiden victory.
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In Cricket, Leicestershire head coach Alfonso Thomas has criticised The Hundred’s ridiculous player participation rules.
The injury-hit Foxes lost in the One-Day Cup to Surrey and next play Yorkshire on Thursday, their fourth match in seven days.
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
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