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Oluwatobiloba Amusan became the first Nigerian to qualify for an Olympic 100m Hurdles in 21 years. In a time of 12.62s, Amusan became the first Nigerian since Glory Adozie in the Sydney 2000 Olympics to compete in the final of the event. However, Amusan would finish 4th in the final (12.60s), failing to win a medal. Running by revelation sprinter, Enoch Adegoke, would break a 25-year-old jinx to become the first Nigerian to compete in a men’s 100m Olympic final since 1996. In a time of 10.00s (heat 2 of men’s 100m semi-final), Adegoke matched the exploits of Davidson Ezinwa in Atlanta 1996. Unfortunately, Adegoke had a bit of bad luck in the final after an injury just 50m into the finals forced him out. However, Adegoke must keep his head high as this is only the beginning of his journey. Grace Nwokocha continued her Olympic campaign in the heat 1 of the women’s 200m event and went through to the semi-final with a new Personal Best of 22.47s. Nwokocha finished third in the race behind Marie Ta Lou in first place and Shaunae Miller-Uibo in second place. In the semi-final of the women’s 200 m, Grace would finish in fourth place, missing out on the final. Nigerian wrestling sensation, Blessing Oborodudu, beat Azerbaijan’s Elis Manolova to qualify for the quarter-finals of the 68kg. Oborodudu beat Manolova by Technical Superiority (13-2) and continued her brilliant outing in Tokyo after beating Meerim Zhumanazarova in the quarter-final (3-2) to qualify for the semi-finals, a great chance for Nigeria to grab a medal in Tokyo. Oborodudu will compete in the gold medal match after defeating Mongolia’s Battsetseg Soronzonbold in the semi-final by 7-2. In basketball, the Nigerian national women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, crashed out of the Olympics after suffering an 83-102 points defeat at the hands of the Japanese national team.
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With this result, it is not yet Uhuru for Nigerian basketball on the global stage as both the men and women’s basketball teams have been eliminated from the competition in the group stage. Nigeria Professional Football League side, Akwa United, made history on Sunday, August 1, 2021, after winning the Nigerian league for the first time in the club’s history. A 5-2 thumping of MFM FC in Uyo on Sunday gifted them the title for the 2020/2021 season. A header from Charles Atshimene gifted Akwa the lead in the 24th minute before an own goal from Alimi Adebayo made it 2-0 in the dying minutes of the first half. Mfon Udoh advanced the lead for the Uyo-based side in the 62nd minute (3-0). The Lagosians reduced the goal deficit to two (3-1) after a 68th-minute penalty, converted by Michael Mbonu, but Atshimene would rise to the occasion again and score his second of the game in the 87th minute to make it 4-1. Dennis Obasi scored the second goal for MFM with just two minutes left, but an on fire Atshimene made it a hattrick in the 90th minute as they made history on Sunday. Victor Osimhen has been outstanding for Napoli so far in the pre-season games. The Super Eagles of Nigeria striker scored a brace in Napoli’s 3-0 victory over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Saturday, July 31, 2021, as the Italian club continues preparation for the upcoming season. Sources: Instagram @makingofchamps Complete Sports Featured Image Source: Channels Television
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