The Nation Newspaper

Tag: OLYMPICS

  • Toriola not giving up on seventh Olympics appearance

    Toriola not giving up on seventh Olympics appearance

    Despite his inability to get an automatic ticket at the last African Games in Congo Brazzaville, Segun Toriola believes his dream of playing his seventh Olympics in Rio, Brazil is achievable.

    Toriola just needed to make it to the semifinal of the singles event of African Games to automatically qualify for the Olympics but he was edged out in the quarterfinal by Chinese-born Congo Brazzaville’s Wang Jianan.

    However, Toriola, who celebrated his 41st birthday in Brazzaville is at present the most decorated athlete in the history of the African Games having won 16 gold medals since making his debut at the games in 1991.

    As it is, Toriola will be Nigeria’s sole flagbearer when the continental Olympics qualifiers hold in Sudan next year after Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri secured his place in the four-man team that qualified at the African Games in Brazzaville.

    “I think I still have a chance to make it to the Olympics because it was unfortunate that I could not make it in Brazzaville. I tried my best but in table tennis, things are unpredicatable. I am hoping that when the final qualifiers hold in Khartoum, Sudan in January 2016, I can make it to Brazil. It is the dream of every player to play at the Olympics and I am eager to play my last Olympics in Rio,” Toriola told SportingLife.

    According to the qualification rules set by the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), minimum of two players are expected to qualify from each country while 12 players made of six male and six female will qualify from Africa for the Olympics.

    ATTF President, Khaled El-Salhy told SportingLife that Nigeria and Congo Brazzaville can only present two players made up of one male and one female for the Sudan qualifiers as two of its players have already booked their places at the Olympics.

    For Egypt, he said, the North African has already completed its quotas for the Olympics as four of its players – Omar and Khalid Assar for male and Dina Meshref and Nadeen El-Dawlatly have booked their spots at the Olympics and with this, Egypt cannot present any of its players for the Sudan qualifiers.

  • Nigerian boxers might miss out of Rio Olympics

     

    Nigeria will not be present at the 18th World Boxing Championships starting today in the gulf state of Qatar and might miss out from Rio 2016.

    According to the AIBA President, Dr Ching-Kuo Wu, the country might also not be in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil next year because the World Championship is the main qualifying event for the Olympic Games.

    He said: “This edition of the AIBA World Boxing Championships will be a key event in the run up to Rio 2016 as the top boxers from all five continents converge in Doha, Qatar, to compete for places at the Games”

    “For the first time, all boxers had to qualify to the World Championships ensuring that boxing fans will enjoy the most remarkable show the elite of the boxing world has to offer”

    The boxing team had earlier spoke of how disheartening the Nigerian flag was not hoisted at the African Championships due to the inability of the Nigeria Boxing Federation to raise funds to make the trip to Morocco.

    The tournament served as a qualifier for the world championships.

    Algeria, who were top of the boxing medals table at the just concluded African Games in Brazzaville will lead the African contingent at the tournament holding at the at Ali bin Hamad Al Attiya Indoor Arena, Doha. Other African countries participating include Morocco, Ghana, Uganda and Tunisia.

  • Dream Team not seeded for Rio Olympics qualifiers

    Dream Team not seeded for Rio Olympics qualifiers

    Nigeria’s Dream Team VI have not been seeded for the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations, which will serve as qualifiers for next year’s Rio Olympics as hosts Senegal and Egypt are the seeded teams for today’s draw.

    Hosts Senegal will top Group A, while Egypt will headline Group B.

    This means that the other six finalists – Nigeria, Algeria, Mali, Zambia, Tunisia and South Africa – could be drawn in either group.

    The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.

    The top three teams will automatically qualify for the Rio Olympics while the fourth best team will playoff for a ticket to the global competition.

    The Africa U-23 Cup of Nations  will be staged in November.

  • 2016 OLYMPICS QUALIFIERS: Nigeria slim win over Congo leaves qualifier wide open

    2016 OLYMPICS QUALIFIERS: Nigeria slim win over Congo leaves qualifier wide open

    Nigeria beat Congo 2-1 to leave this CAF U23 Championship qualifier wide open with the second leg in Pointe-Noire in a fortnight.

    After a scoreless first half completely dominated by home team Nigeria, Junior Ajayi finally opened scoring in the 48th minute after Congo goalkeeper Christoffer Mafoumbi failed to hold on to an acute-angled shot by Godwin Saviour.

    Shooting Stars striker Ajayi completed his brace in the 54th minute, when he headed home a low cross from the left by Etor Daniel.

    But just when Dream Team VI were cruising to a comfortable home win, Congo pulled a goal back through Moise Nkonkou in the 66th minute.

    A penalty appeal by Nigeria in the 59th minute was overlooked by the Kenyan referee, but television replays later showed it should have been given as Etebo Oghenekaro’s shot was handled by a Congo defender inside the box.

    Nigeria made three changes thereafter with Musa Yahaya, Taiwo Awoniyi and Umar Aminu coming in as they went in search of more goals.

    Awoniyi failed to connect a low drive across the Congo goal in the 75th minute.

    Oghenekaro was then denied in stoppage time by the Congo goalkeeper.

    Congo were the happier of the two teams going into the dressing room after scores stood at 0-0 at a packed Adokie Amiesimeika Stadium in Port Harcourt.

    Samson Siasia’s Dream Team VI attacked all of the first 45 minutes and visiting Congo were happy to sit back and defend with their lives.

    Nigeria enjoyed 67 percent of the possession and forced 11 corners, but they still could not manage to translate the final ball into goal.

    Saviour shot at goal after just six minutes, but it screamed across the Congo goal.

    In the 12th minute, Junior Ajayi could have put the home team in front but he scooped away from target from inside the box after he was superbly set up by Oghenekaro.

    Skipper Azubuike Okechukwu’s shot from the top of the box after 22 minutes was also off target.

    In the 31st minute, Segun Oduduwa shot from a free kick was put out for a corner by the Congo goalkeeper Mafoumbi.

    Three minutes later, Saviour goal-bound shot was headed off the goal line as Congo continued to hang on.

    And in stoppage time, Saviour again forced a double save from the Congo shot stopper.

  • NSC’ll give priority to Olympics, All Africa Games -Yakmut

    •Sambo to commission High Performance Centre

    To compete favourably in international competitions, the Director-General, National Sports Commission (NSC), Alhassan Yakmut, says the Commission will henceforth ensure that all Olympics and All Africa Games’ sports will get enough assistance.

    Yakmut, who revealed that the NSC under him would pursue a four-point roadmap, said the NSC had already started evaluating all the facilities in the country to ensure they play key roles in rebuilding the country’s falling sports sector.

    He was in Lagos at the weekend to inspect facilities at the National Stadium, which has been left comatose by successive administrations since the return of civilian rule in 1999.

    According to the former national team volleyball captain, elite athletes and those events where Nigeria has medal potential would get adequate attention to ensure they are in competitive form at all times.

    He said: “I was in Lagos when Ese Brume first came on the scene at the D.K. Olukoya Championship. A talent like that should be programmed to be at the height of her game by now. We will look at ways to help such talents develop properly.

    “Recently, our elite athlete, Blessing Okagbare, complained of the neglect of the grassroots and someone like her cannot be dismissed because she knows what she is saying. We will look at ways to address the issues she raised because that is what would help us grow.”

    Yakmut disclosed that he has a four-point roadmap, which include “things that must be done in the first 100 days; things to achieve within six months and one year; the long term, which is what must be done within the four years of my tenure; and the legacy of my tenure.”

    He revealed that the 140-bed High Performance Centre in Abuja would be opened on Wednesday by Vice President, Namadi Sambo, adding that Category A athletes would move into it immediately, “but it would be finally opened for camping in June.”

  • 2022 WINTER OLYMPICS: IOC, CCTV in $550 million TV deal

    2022 WINTER OLYMPICS: IOC, CCTV in $550 million TV deal

    The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has exploited China’s likely status as host of the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games to agree a bumper new broadcasting deal with China Central Television (CCTV).

    The state broadcaster has been awarded exclusive rights to screen the next four Games after Rio 2016 in the world’s most populous nation, in a deal believed to be worth some $550 million (£350 million/€450,000).

    This is more than double the sum agreed for the same rights covering the four Games from Vancouver 2010 to Rio 2016, and reflects Asia’s monopoly of Olympic hosting rights between 2018 and 2022.

    With the 2018 Games earmarked for Pyeongchang, South Korea, 2020 going to Tokyo and 2022 set for either Beijing or Almaty, Kazakhstan, the IOC will be hoping for similarly substantial increases in other Asian markets.

    The new deal represents a scarcely believable leap from the $17.5 million (£11 million/€14 million) paid by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union for the TV rights (excluding new media) covering most of Asia, including China, for the last Chinese Olympics in Beijing in 2008.

    Even so, $550 million works out at only around $0.40 (£0.25/€0.32) per head of Chinese population for all four Games, compared with the approximately $3.80 (£2.40/€3.10)per capita paid by NBC Universal for the right to air Rio 2016 on US soil.

    CCTV have been long-time broadcasters of the Olympics but will pay much more for the privilege as part of the new $550 million deal.

    Thomas Bach, the IOC President, said he was “delighted that we will continue to work with our longstanding broadcast partner CCTV.

    “They have demonstrated many times their ability to bring first class coverage of the Olympic Games to hundreds of millions of Chinese people.

    “The revenue the IOC has secured from this agreement will be redistributed to support future organisers of the Olympic Games, as well as supporting sport and athletes in China and around the world.”

    Hu Zhanfan, CCTV’s President, described the deal as a “win-win agreement”.

    CCTV was, he said, “determined to be, as always, a powerful and exceptional partner of the IOC”.

    Zaiqing Yu, Chinese IOC vice-president, said CCTV was a “strong supporter of the Olympic values”, adding: “We look forward to continuing our partnership through to 2024.”

    CCTV has acquired the rights across all broadcast platforms in all languages; the deal also includes the right to broadcast all editions of the Youth Olympic Games until 2024.

  • Don calls for early preparations

    Don calls for early preparations

    A don, Olutunji Makanjuola, on Wednesday said Nigeria must be proactive in its preparations for major competitions to boost its chances of winning laurels.

    Makanjuola, who is a professor of psychology in the University of Lagos(UNILAG), made the remark in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. He noted that Nigeria had not fully imbibed the culture of early preparations for competitions, and said this attitude must change.

    “Let’s take for an example, the Rio 2016 Olympics, it is around the corner and many other countries have started preparations and we have not. Nigeria at the present is reaping from the measure of its investment in sports.

    “ If we continue the way we have been doing things, we should not expect a positive result. Our performance in major international events we attended was the reflection of our level of preparation and investment. You do not plant beans and expect to reap rice,’’ he said.

    Makanjuola, who is also the chairman of the Lagos State Athletics Association, noted that the way the nation had prepared for the 2012 Olympics, was repeating itself. He said funds for the competition ought to have been released by now, to ensure intense preparations.

    “To me if the money is not released on time, then it means that the money was not meant for Nigeria to prepare for the Games; but to participate, and in a jamboree. Nigeria recorded the highest number of government officials at the Games, even more than the number of athletes, which makes it a jamboree, he said.

    The don listed other factors militating against Nigeria’s sports development to include poor facilities, incentives for athletes, lack of exposure, inadequate attention to sports at the grassroots and poor administration.

  • RIO 2016 OLYMPICs: NOC to ensure medal haul

    RIO 2016 OLYMPICs: NOC to ensure medal haul

    President of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation, who also doubles as the technical chairman of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Daniel Igali has revealed that his main aim ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil is for all participating sports for the country to win medals.

    Igali assured that the Nigeria Olympic Committee will be also looking to prepare very well according to the available resources on ground.

    “The preparations we had last year in Warri, South Africa, and the Governor Dickson classics were preparations towards the Olympics but specifically, we want to have those competitions and tune up matches for the athletes so that we can retain our pride at the table of the commonwealth games.

    “For us, the preparation towards the commonwealth games, if it all goes well, will to a very large extent work as another preparation for the RIO2016 summer Olympic Games which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.”

  • 2014 Commonwealth Games: Dress rehearsal for Olympics — Ndanusa

    2014 Commonwealth Games: Dress rehearsal for Olympics — Ndanusa

    The Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) said on Wednesday that the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland would be a “dress rehearsal” for Nigerian athletes, ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games.

    The President of the NOC, Sani Ndanusa, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos in a telephone interview that the performance of Nigerian athletes at the quadrennial games would determine the effectiveness of their overall preparations.

    “The Commonwealth Games will be a platform for our athletes to put to test their skills which will help us in taking note of their weaknesses.”

    The president said the preparations for the games would roll over to preparations for the Rio De Janeiro Olympics.

    “The preparation for Rio de Janeiro is being packaged alongside that of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. And the level, height and standard of preparations will blend into that of the 2016 Olympics.”

    Ndanusa said the seemingly inadequate nature of the athletes’ preparations for the Olympics does not mean things were being taken for granted.

    “I want to assure you that quite a number of architecture has been introduced and I must say that athletes have been encouraged to engage in high performance preparations.”

    Ndanusa said Nigeria was still reeling from the disappointment of not winning a medal at the London Olympics, and would not want a recurrence of such a disgraceful outing.

  • Taekwando chief targets new athletes for Olympics

    Taekwando chief targets new athletes for Olympics

    The President, Nigeria Taekwando Federation (NTF), George Ashiru, said on Wednesday that the major target of the federation was to get new athletes to qualify for the Rio Olympics come 2016.

    Ashiru made this known during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja. According to him, for an athlete to qualify for the Olympics it means he or she is one of the best in the world and it will be a great achievement to get to that level.

    “What we need to do is to make sure we qualify our athletes; for me the biggest achievement for 2016 is qualifying athletes for the Olympics. It means that our athletes are one of the top seeds in the world and that is a very realistic expectation.

    “If we continually qualify athletes it means we have developed another group of athletes. For example, Chika Chukwumerije has been to three Olympics; the first one he was just happy to qualify; it was the following one that he won a bronze.

    “So, if I am looking for athletes to win a gold, or silver or bronze in the first Olympics that will be expecting a lot; but if I expect them to qualify that tells me I have got some set of athletes that are now world class.”

    Ashiru said the international taekwando tournament organised by the Chika Chukwumerije Sports Foundation had made the federation discover new talents that could make the country proud at the All Africa Games.

    He said Nigeria came tops in the international competition by having six gold, seven silver and 13 bronze with Republic of Niger having just two gold from the eight foreign countries that participated.

    He, however, noted that the new athletes discovered from the states and grassroots would be trained under the elite athletes training division of the federation to prepare them for more international tournaments.

    According to him, every year the athletes would participate in three major quality tournaments to prepare them for the All Africa Games. He said the new athletes that were being discovered would be trained to participate in the All Africa Games adding that the federation was looking at winning four to five gold medals.

    “My expectation for these athletes every year is to have two to three major quality tournaments to get them ready for the All Africa Games. By the time they compete at the all Africa games we are looking at four to five gold medals.

    “The highest we have won so far is three; if we can get the four to five gold medals that means we are looking at potential Olympic medalists.”

    The president said Nigeria had been invited for the first time to participate in the World team championship in Ivory Coast amongst the top 16 teams in the world.

    Ashiru stated that a one year contract was signed with a Korean coach to train the national team which could be renewable based on performance.