Sports

Ethiopians sweep women’s 10,000m at WAC in tight photo finish

Published

8 months ago

August 20, 2023

It was a clean sweep for Ethiopia in the women’s 10,000m race at the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, as Gudaf Tsegay won Ethiopia’s first gold medal, with world record-holder Letesenbet Gidey taking the silver and Ejgayehu Taye nicking the bronze.

The race late Saturday which ended up as the closest finish ever in the history of the WAC, saw Gudaf edging past Letesenbet by the slimmest of margins with 0.98 seconds separating gold from silver, while Ejgayehu finished just 0.15 seconds later.

Ethiopian-born Sifen Hassen, who competes in the colours of Holland, had surged into the lead in the closing laps and was on the cusp of victory but was upstaged by Tsegaye near the finish line after she stumbled and fell to the ground about 20 metres from the finish line.

Tsegay, the reigning world 5,000 metres champion, had pulled up tightly beside Hassen down the home stretch and the two ran shoulder-to-shoulder before the Dutchwoman’s crash, leaving the 26-year-old Tsegay to cross alone in a time of 31 minutes 27.18 seconds to lead an Ethiopian medal sweep.

Speaking after the race, Tsegay said:

“When Sifan tried to cross my line not far from the finish, I even did not pay attention to that.

“It happens often at different competitions because every one of us always fights for leading position. I just had in my mind how to find the way to finish first and, probably, to make historical finish for our country and to make Ethiopian people proud of us,” she said.

Related Topics:Ethiopia Featured Gold Medal World Athlete Championship

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Sports

Nigeria’s football federation appoints Finidi George as Super Eagles coach

Published

1 day ago

April 29, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has approved the appointment of former international, Finidi George, as the new head coach of the Super Eagles.

The board of the Federation
on Monday, approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Committee to appoint George, a former Eagles winger, as the manager of the Nigeria’s men national football team.

Before his appointment, George, served as assistant to José Peseiro before the Portuguese voluntarily resigned from post after leading the Eagles to the final of 2023 Africa Cup of Nations where they lost 2-1 to host Cote d’Ivoire.

Following Peseiro’s departure, George took charge of the squad in interim capacity during two friendly matches in Morocco last month.

He led the squad to a 2-1 victory over Ghana in the first match but lost 0-2 to Mali in the second game.

The 52-year-old George was a member of the Eagles team of the early 90s fondly called the “Golden Generation” that won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Tunisia and qualified Nigeria for its first ever senior FIFA World Cup in 1994.

During his playing career, George starred for Sharks of Port Harcourt and Calabar Rovers in Nigeria before moving abroad where he played for Ajax Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Real Betis of Spain.

He won 62 caps for Nigeria, including featuring at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup finals and also won gold, silver and bronze medals from the 1992, 1994, 2000 and 2002 AFCON tournaments.

George’s immediate task will be to guide the Super Eagles to victory in two 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against South Africa and Benin Republic in Uyo and Abidjan respectively, in a little over five weeks.

Sports

Al Ahly, Esperance to clash in CAF Champions League final

Published

3 days ago

April 27, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Two of Africa’s club giants, Egypt’s Al Ahly and Esperance of Tunisia, will do battle next month over two legs for the right to be crowned champions of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.

Title-holders Al Ahly and their long-standing rivals Esperance both booked their places in the final with dramatic semi-final victories over DR Congo”s TP Mazembe and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa respectively on Friday night.

While Al Ahly, winners of five of the last seven editions of the continent’s top draw tournament, with a record 11 in total, overcame TP Mazembe with a 3-0 aggregate victory in the semi-final second leg after a goalless first leg last Saturday, Esperance surprised Sundowns with a 1-0 victory in Pretoria to wrap up a 2-0 aggregate win.

The two-legged final will mark the third encounter between Ahly and Esperance in the Champions League final, with the Egyptians winning in 2012 and the Tunisians triumphing in 2018.

In 2023, the two clubs clashed in the semi-finals with Ahly emerging victorious home and away, securing a 4-0 aggregate triumph.

Esperance who are aiming for a fifth Champions League title, will host the first leg in Rades on May 18, with the return fixture scheduled in Cairo seven days later.