Connect with us

Sports

Simbine wades in on Omanyala, Tebogo “Africa Sprints King’ debate

Published

on

South African sprint sensation, Akani Simbine, has weighed in on the “African Sprint King” debate between Africa’s fastest man and Commonwealth Games champion, Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya, and Letsile Tebogo of Botswana on who should rightfully hold the title.

Simbine who defeated Omanyala in the 100m at the Atlanta City Games on Sunday, shared his thoughts in an interview with Track and Field network on whom between him, Omanyala and Tebogo is the best sprinter in Africa.

Simbine who is regarded as one of Africa’s and world’s best sprinters in history, while reacting to Omanyala’s recent declaration of himself as the king of sprints on the continent pointing to his African record and title as well as his Commonwealth gold medal, said he was waiting for the Paris Olympics to know whom among them should wear the crown.

The claim by Omanyala had put him on a collision course with Tebogo, the world 100m silver and 200m bronze medallist.

Tebogo, in an earlier interview, had said Omanyala is yet to prove his claims where it matters following his semi-final exit at the Tokyo Olympics and seventh place finish at the 2023 World Championships where the 20-year-old won two medals.

“To me, it does not make sense if you are the African champion, but where it mattered the most, he could not step in,” Tebogo had fired at Omanyala.

To prove his point, Simbine dusted Omanyala to take the track in the 100m at the Atlanta Games in a world leading time of 9.90 while the Kenyan was second in 10.00.

In the interview, Simbine simply said:

“I am waiting for that conversation, I never left. We will see,” suggesting he should be among those being discussed, especially with the Paris Olympics on the horizon.

Simbine, a former African champion and record holder, had had those two titles were taken away from him by Omanyala who set a new mark of 9.77 in 2021 while he is also the 100m African champion.

But based on current form, Simbine trumps both Omanyala and Tebogo in 100m given he is the first to dip under 10 seconds this year.

His 9.90 came after he had managed 10.01 on two occasions, both recorded in April when he finished first, while Omanyala ran 10.03 at the Kip Keino Classic where he finished a disappointing fifth, before improving it to 10.00 in Atlanta.

Tebogo meanwhile managed 10.13 in his first 100m of the season at the Los Angeles Grand Prix last weekend.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sports

Nigeria’s Lookman, Zambia’s Banda big winners at 2024 CAF Award

Published

on

Nigerian sensation, Ademola Lookman, has wrapped his footballing year with another win after being declared as the Men’s Footballer of the Year by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Lookman, who plays for Italian club side Atalanta, was the biggest winner at the star-studded 2024 CAF Awards in Marrakech following 12 months with Italian side Atalanta and the Nigerian Super Eagles. He follows in the footsteps of compatriot Victor Osimhen, who claimed the award in 2023.

This is the first time Nigeria has had consecutive men’s award winners since nearly thirty years, when Nwankwo Kanu (1996) and Victor Ikpeba (1997) were awarded.

Other top African achievers recognized for their exploits during the event include South Africa’s Ronwen Williams and Zambia’s Barbra Banda. Banda was instrumental in leading Orlando Pride to the NWSL Shield and Championship in the 2024 National Women’s Soccer League season in the United States. She scored the game-winning goal in the final against Washington Spirit.

Other winners include Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie, who won Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year award for the second year in a row after another impressive season for French side Paris FC.

Sanaâ Mssoudy, a forward for AS FAR and Morocco, received the Women’s Interclub Player of the Year award after winning the 2024 CAF Women’s Champions League Best Player title. Agile box-to-box midfielder, Lamine Camara of Senegal and Monaco, won the Men’s Young Player of the Year award for his outstanding performances for both club and country.

Doha El Madani, a 19-year-old Moroccan and AS FAR player, won the Women’s Young Player of the Year award after scoring six goals in five games to win the Golden Boot at the 2024 CAF Women’s Champions League.

See the full winners list below:

2024 CAF AWARDS WINNERS

CAF PLAYER OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Ademola Lookman (Nigeria / Atalanta)

CAF PLAYER OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)
Barbra Banda (Zambia / Orlando Pride)

CAF GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Ronwen Williams (South Africa / Mamelodi Sundowns)

CAF GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)
Chiamaka Nnadozie (Nigeria / Paris FC)

CAF INTERCLUB PLAYER OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Ronwen Williams (South Africa / Mamelodi Sundowns)

CAF INTERCLUB PLAYER OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)
Sanaâ Mssoudy (Morocco / AS FAR)

CAF YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Lamine Camara (Senegal / AS Monaco)

CAF YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)
Doha El Madani (Morocco / AS FAR)

CAF COACH OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Emerse Fae (Cote d’Ivoire)

CAF COACH OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)
Lamia Boumehdi (TP Mazembe)

CAF NATIONAL TEAM OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Cote d’Ivoire

CAF NATIONAL TEAM OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)
Nigeria

CAF CLUB OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Al Ahly (Egypt)

CAF CLUB OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)
TP Mazembe (DR Congo)

CAF REFEREE OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Mutaz Ibrahim (Libya)

CAF REFEREE OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)
Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco)

CAF ASSISTANT REFEREE OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Elvis Guy Noupue Nguegoue (Cameroon)

CAF ASSISTANT REFEREE OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)
Diana Chikotesha (Zambia)

CAF GOAL OF THE YEAR
Mabululu (Angola)

Continue Reading

Sports

Salah wins 6th EPL Player of the Month award

Published

on

Egyptian national team captain and Liverpool forward, Mohamed Salah, was on Saturday voted the EA SPORTS Player of the Month for November 2024, making it his sixth POTM diadem in his career.

Salah, who has been in inspiring form this season, has scored and assisted five of Liverpool’s seven goals as the Reds won all three of their Premier League matches to stay top of the table.

Salah’s was November’s highest scorer in the Premier League and the Egyptian is now on 13 goals for the season, level with Erling Haaland in the Golden Boot race.

The 32-year-old also has 21 combined goals and assists this season, the most in the Premier League, four more than Cole Palmer, who ranked second in the voting.

This award also puts Salah alongside Premier League legends like Steven Gerrard and Cristiano Ronaldo, who also won the Player of the Month award six times, and is now just one win away from equaling the record of seven awards, held by Harry Kane and Sergio Aguero.

Continue Reading

EDITOR’S PICK

Tech14 hours ago

DR Congo sues tech giant Apple over illegal mineral exploitation

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has filed a criminal case against the European subsidiaries of tech giant, Apple, accusing...

Culture14 hours ago

UNESCO lists Ghana’s Kente cloth as cultural heritage

The iconic Ghanaian Kente, a piece of clothing, has been recognized as a cultural heritage on UNESCO’s Representative List of...

Metro15 hours ago

Zambia: FOX report highlights persistent media harassment, calls for reforms

A new Freedom of Expression (FOX) report by the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia, has raised concerns over...

Politics20 hours ago

Egyptian court upholds ex-presidential candidate Ahmed Tantawy’s sentence

Former presidential candidate, Ahmed Tantawy, and his campaign manager, Mohamed Abou El-Diar, were found guilty of faking election paperwork, and...

Politics20 hours ago

Court orders Uganda to compensate LRA war crimes victims

Uganda’s tribunal has ordered the government to pay up to 10 million Ugandan shillings ($2,740) to each victim of Lord’s...

Metro24 hours ago

Nigeria: 614,937 killed, 2.2m abducted in 1 year— Report

A new report released on Tuesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that over 614,937 Nigerians were...

Musings From Abroad1 day ago

Seeking to expand ties in Africa, Indonesia’s Prabowo attends D-8 economic meeting in Egypt

According to the government, Indonesian President, Prabowo Subianto, travelled to Egypt on Tuesday to attend meetings of the D-8 Organisation...

Politics1 day ago

M23 Angola peace talks break down as Congo, Rwanda dash hopes

Hopes of an agreement to end Congo’s M23 rebel conflict, which has displaced over 1.9 million people, were dashed when...

VenturesNow1 day ago

Nigeria obtains $600 million international loans for agriculture

To promote food security and rural development, the Nigerian government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, has obtained...

VenturesNow1 day ago

Nigeria’s November inflation rate hits 34.60%

According to figures released by the statistics office on Monday, Nigeria’s inflation rate increased for the third consecutive month in...

Trending