Sports

World Athletics Federation ratifies 100m hurdles record set by Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan

Published

1 year ago

September 20, 2022

The 100m hurdles world record set by Nigerian athlete, Tobi Amusan, at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA, has been ratified by World Athletics Federation (WAF).

Amusan had set a new world record of 12.12 in the women’s 100m hurdles semi-finals at the championship held in July but the athletics body had yet to ratify and make it official until the final confirmation was done on Tuesday.

The WAF announced the ratification on its official website was disclosed on the athletics body’s official website via a statement on Tuesday.

With the ratification, the time of 12.12 seconds makes it the official world record to beat in the women’s 100m hurdles.

The 25-year-old Amusan who is fondly called ‘star girl’ had run the 12.12 seconds time in the semi-finals to defeat former world record holder, Kendra Harrison, who had set the world record in the 100 metres hurdles with a time of 12.20 seconds in 2016, at the London Müller Anniversary Games.

Amusan saved her best for the final the next day when she ran an unprecedented wind-assisted 12.06 (2.5m/s) to win the gold medal.

Speaking on her feat, the African and Commonwealth Games record holder had said in an interview:

“The goal was to come out and to win this gold, Honestly, I believe in my abilities, but I was not expecting a world record at these championships.”

Amusan has had a remarkable 2022 season, breaking the African record three times in the space of 10 months before smashing the record in Oregon to become Nigeria’s first-ever world athletics champion and world record holder.

At the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, UK, she won the gold medal for Nigeria in another record-breaking effort, making her the first Nigerian athlete to hold the African, Commonwealth and World Champion gold in the 100m hurdles as well as the record holder in the three competitions.

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Sports

Onana emerges highest-rated EPL goalkeeper

Published

10 hours ago

November 29, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

Despite a string of uninspiring performances in his early days in the English Premier League, Cameroon and Manchester United goalkeeper, Andre Onana has been named the highest-rated shot stopper in the league.

The turnaround for the former Inter Milan keeper came after his club stormed to five wins in six matches, with the once-vilified Onana keeping clean sheets in all the games.

The Cameroon shot-stopper, who had faced heavy criticism from fans of the club and English pundits after a shaky start to life, emerged the league’s highest-rated goalkeeper, in a latest statistics from Whoscored.

According to Whoscored, the 24-year-old’s five clean sheets in 13 matches for United surpasses those of any other goalkeeper in the EPL.

The statistics also showed that Onana had made some incredibly saves, with his save percentage at 76.1, just a little lower than Liverpool goalkeeper, Alisson Becker’s, who is the only keeper with a better rate.

However, combined stats gave Onana an overall rating of 6.96, the highest in the Premier League, with Tottenham’s Gugliemo Vicario coming in second with 6.92, while Becker completes the top three with a rating of 6.84.

Here is a breakdown of Onana’s key stats so far this season in the EPL:

Clean sheets – 5

Save percentage – 76.1

Saves per 90 – 3.9

Goals prevented – 2.7

Goals conceded – 16

Sports

Namibia qualifies for 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup

Published

1 day ago

November 28, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

Namibia has qualified for the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup which will hold in United States and the West Indies, after a top-two guaranteed finish in the African qualifiers with a game to spare.

The Eagles triumphed over Tanzania 58-run in Windhoek and now sit on top of the table with five wins from five matches after previously defeating Zimbabwe, Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya.

Uganda, Kenya and Zimbabwe still remain in contention to secure second spot in the table and join Namibia at the T20 World Cup next year, with Uganda facing east African rivals, Kenya on Wednesday.

The qualification of Namibia for next year’s 20-team tournament will be the country’s third consecutive appearance at the T20 World Cup, which makes them one of the most successful African teams in the Championship.

The Eagles reached the Super 12 stage as first-time qualifiers in the UAE in 2021 but however suffered a first round group-stage exit in Australia last year.

Speaking on the feat, Rudie van Vuuren, president of Cricket Namibia, said it was a testimony to the dedication of the players and coaching crew.

“We’re very proud of the boys, of Pierre de Bruyn and his coaching team and also Gerhard Erasmus, the captain of the team,” Van Vuuren told BBC Sport Africa.

“The boys played professional cricket throughout, really a high standard of cricket. And you can see the fact that we have a professional set-up eventually makes the difference in this kind of tournament.

“It is exciting times for Namibia. We have a strong pipeline developing. We look forward to the T20 World Cup and then, building on that, the Under-19 World Cup in 2026 and obviously the 50-over World Cup in 2027”, he added.

Namibia will co-host the Cricket World Cup in 2027 alongside South Africa and Zimbabwe, and will finish their group campaign against Nigeria on Thursday.