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Kenya’s Daniel Simiu dominates Berlin Half Marathon as country completes clean sweep

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Kenyan World Half Marathon silver medalist, Daniel Simiu, on Sunday morning, posted an impressive 59:30 to lead the country to a top-five sweep at the Berlin Half Marathon tournament.

Though he fell short of breaking the course record, impressive performances from Amos Kurgat and Isaiah Kipkoech saw the Kenyans securing the second and third spots with times of 59:42 and 59:47, respectively, further showcasing its depth in long-distance running in the heart of the German capital.

Other Kenyan runners,Benard Biwott and Bravin Kiprop rounded out the top five, finishing in 60:21 and 60:29, leaving the sixth position to the United States’ Diego Estrada.

The Kenyan dominance was further underscored by Robert Kiprop and Vincent Kiptoo, who completed the race in seventh and eighth places with times of 61:27 and 61:29, respectively.

Athletics World reports that race was tightly contested up to its midway point, with Simiu part of a leading pack that included Kiptoo, Kipkoech, Biwott, Kurgat, and Kiprop.

“However, the dynamics shifted with 8km left when Simiu and Kurgat pulled ahead, turning the competition into a thrilling duel between the two athletes.

“As the finish line approached, Kurgat appeared to lose momentum, allowing Simiu to surge ahead with a powerful finish.

“Despite his victory, Simiu was aiming to break the course record of 58:42 set by Eric Kiptanui in 2018 but fell short.”

Speaking after the race, Simiu expressed his determination to continue improving.

“Every race is a learning experience, and today was no different. I’m proud of what we achieved as a team and what I achieved personally.

“The record was on my mind, but it’s all about the win today. We’ll look forward to breaking more barriers in the future,” Simiu, 28, said.

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Ngannou accuses Joshua of employing dirty tactics in their fight in Saudi Arabia

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Former UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou, has accused British-Nigerian boxer, Anthony Joshua, and his promotion team of employing unfair and dirty tactics during their recent bout in Saudi Arabia where Joshua defeated the Cameroonian.

Ngannou who spoke on ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast on Friday, gave details of a series of incidents he believes were designed by the Joshua team to give the former world heavyweight champion an edge in their fight.

The Cameroonian fighter, who made his professional boxing debut against Tyson Fury in 2023, claimed that British boxing promoters deliberately disrupted his preparation schedule to give Joshua the edge in the fight.

“We get into fight week, and every time we’re going to do media, they’re going to pick me up, and then I get there and have to wait an hour and a half before media arrives,” Ngannou narrated.

He stated that his striking coach, Dewey Cooper, became suspicious of the deliberate delays which he interpreted to be a tactic to make fighters get tired quickly.

Ngannou also recounted issues on the day of the fight, describing how he arrived at the arena hours before the scheduled fight time, only to be informed of a significant delay.

“A producer comes into the locker room and says, ‘Oh, guy, we are running late on the broadcast. Now we’re going to go around 1:45.’ I’m like, okay, 1:45. It’s 10:45. Three hours. Okay.”

Ngannou who refused to blame Joshua directly for these incidents, however, pointed accusing fingers at the organising bodies.

“This is definitely not on him – Joshua, because he wasn’t the guy that was sending all those emails, organizing. So I’m not blaming him for anything. But the organisation did quite some stuff that wasn’t fair,” Ngannou stated.

Despite the allegations, Ngannou acknowledged Joshua as a skillful fighter.

“Not to say Anthony Joshua couldn’t beat me. I think if there’s somebody that you can lose against, he’s the guy; he’s one of the best doing it,” Ngannou concluded.

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Meet Nigerian-born players doing big things for Japan at Paris 2024 Olympics

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The Nigerian male U-23 football team may have missed out of the Paris Olympics Games after failing to qualify from the African qualifying series but the country is well represented in two Nigerian-born stars, Leo Kokubo and Joel Chima Fujita, who are doing great things for Japan.

Both players, born to Nigerian parents, were in action as the Japanese U-23 team pummeled Paraguay 5-0 in their opening match at the Olympics on Wednesday.

Chima Fujita, whose father is Nigerian, was the lynchpin in the Japanese midfield as he dictated the play and had two assists for the team.

The number eight shirted Chima featured for all 90 minutes and protected the defense from any incursion the 10-man Paraguayans had to offer.

The 22-year-old plays for Belgium First Division side St Truiden.

23-year-old Leo Kokubo who who also plays for St Truiden, was in goal for 90 minutes and pulled up fantastic saves to keep the Paraguay strikers from breaching his goal.

With the 5-0 victory over 10-man Paraguay in Bordeaux, Japan made a strong start to the Paris Olympic men’s football competition and will face Mali in their second match on Saturday.

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