Sports

Nigeria’s relay team breaks 30-year-old African Record at World Championships

Published

4 years ago

July 24, 2022

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The African Record in the women’s 4x100m event has finally been broken after three decades.

The record was broken by the quartet of Joy Udo-Gabriel, Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma and Grace Nwokocha who ran the race of their lives early Sunday morning in the final of the women’s 4x100m event at the ongoing World Championships in Oregon.

They posted a time of 42.22s to break the long-standing 42.39s National/African Record set by their compatriots, Christy Opara-Thompson, Faith Idehen, Beatrice Utondu and Mary Onyali, at the Barcelona 92 Olympics where Nigeria ended with a bronze medal.

Udo-Gabriel, whose inclusion in the team was questioned by some critics, shut her critics up for the umpteenth time with a well-executed first leg race before handing over to Ofili who sustained the momentum.

Then it was the turn of Chukwuma for the third leg and she did well before handing over to Nwokocha who finished off brilliantly.

Unfortunately, despite their record-breaking race, the Nigerian ladies still did not make it to the podium as they finished fourth behind the United States who won with a fast time of 41.14s.

Jamaica and Germany finished second and third respectively.

Sunday was the first time in 11 years that the Nigeria women’s relay team participated in the final of the World Championships.

Incidentally, Nigeria had originally lost out on competing in the women’s relay events in Oregon before they literally sneaked in.

New doping infractions established against Blessing Okagbare knocked Nigeria off the last qualification spot they were occupying on the eve of the closure for qualifying entries for Oregon.

Okagbare and three others ran a time of 42.97s at the Yabatech Sports Complex, Lagos and that had kept them in the last qualification spot up until the unfortunate development.

However, one of the sixteen teams that had qualified ahead of Nigeria, France, eventually pulled out to make a way for Nigeria to not just come on board but to set a new African record.

Even though the medal did not come in Oregon, the relatively young Nigerian women’s relay team would be hoping to get it right at the Commonwealth Games starting this week in Birmingham and subsequent global meets; especially at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Sports

BREAKING: CAF overturns Afcon final result, declares Morocco winner

Published

3 days ago

March 17, 2026

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The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has overturned the result of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals and declare MOROCCO the winner of the title.

Senegal beat Morocco 1-0 in the final on 18 January in a match which was overshadowed when the Senegalese players refused to play after the hosts were awarded a stoppage-time penalty with the match goalless.

Following a delay of around 17 minutes, the players did eventually return and Brahim Diaz’s penalty was saved before Senegal’s Pape Gueye scored an extra-time winner.

However, that result has now been overturned by CAF.

A statement by the African Football’s Governing Body said that Senegal are “declared to have forfeited the final match” with the “result of the match being recorded as 3-0 in favour” of Morocco.

Sports

FG fulfils promises as D’Tigress receive national honours, house documents

Published

4 days ago

March 17, 2026

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The Federal Government has fulfilled its outstanding promises to the senior women’s national basketball team, D’Tigress, delivering National Honour certificates and title documents for houses in Abuja.

The presentation took place in Lyon, where the African Champions are currently participating at the FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament.

The move follows a directive from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu aimed at clearing a backlog of promises made to the team following their 2023 Afrobasket victory in Kigali, Rwanda.

The Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Mallam Shehu Dikko, led the delegation alongside the Director General, Hon. Bukola Olopade. Speaking during the handover, Dikko characterized the prompt delivery as a “clear departure” from previous administrations, where state-promised rewards often faced multi-year delays.

“This is a prompt fulfilment of promises made by a President who leads with action,” Dikko stated. “Mr. President is giving every Nigerian athlete a renewed confidence that sports is a serious business capable of changing lives.”

While the physical assets (housing and honours) have been delivered, the NSC Chairman confirmed that the cash rewards promised to the squad are currently in the final stages of administrative processing. He assured the players that disbursement into their respective bank accounts is imminent.

The Director General, Hon. Bukola Olopade, noted that the current administration of President Tinubu is institutionalizing a “reward system” modelled after developed sporting nations to ensure high-performance outcomes.

President of Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Engr. Musa Kida, credited the Presidency for prioritizing athlete welfare, citing it as a “legacy of a lifetime” for the sports sector.

Head Coach Rena Wakama and Captain Amy Okonkwo formally accepted the documents, affirming that the timely delivery of these incentives would serve as a catalyst for the team’s upcoming international qualifiers.

Sports

BREAKING: Ex-Eagles captainHenry Nwosu dies aged 62

Published

7 days ago

March 14, 2026

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Henry Nwosu, a former Nigerian international footballer and member of the 1980 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) winning team, has passed away.

He was 62.

His death was confirmed by fellow ex-international Segun Odegbami in a Facebook post on Saturday.

According to Odegbami, Nwosu passed away at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Ikeja after a five-day battle for his life.

He also revealed the details of Nwosu’s final days, stating that the man he fondly called “Youngest Millionaire” died at 4:00 a.m. after being in intensive care since Wednesday.

“After 5 days in hospital battling for his life, the one I call ‘Youngest Millionaire’ passed on at 4:00 am this morning at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos where he had been in Intensive Care since Wednesday,” he wrote.

“It is with deep pain in my heart that I have to be the conveyor of the news of the death of Henry Nwosu MON. May he rest peacefully with our Creator in Heaven.”