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12 Good And Bad Memories For African Teams At The Rio Olympics

12 Good And Bad Memories For African Teams At The Rio Olympics

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The 31st edition of the Olympic Game ended on Sunday, August 21, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They were the first Olympic Games to be held in Latin America. African teams had mixed fortunes of victorious, shameful and controversial moments in the three-week sporting bonanza.

Below are 12 good and bad things that the continent’s representatives experienced at the games.

Sources; Herald Sun, Los Angeles Times, Africa News, Reuters, The Sun, BBC, USA Today, Daily Nation, Sky News, Daily Maverick, Herald Sun, Metro, Egyptian Streets

Team Nigeria 2016 (Image: nigerianeye.com)
Team Nigeria 2016 (Image: nigerianeye.com)

Team Nigeria Olympic kit arrived late

The Nigeria team received its competition kit three days to the end of the Rio Olympics. Most of the athletes used the same kit won during the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Indoor Championships held in March 2016 in Oregon, USA.

Nigeria Under-23 team (Image: timeslive.co.za)
Nigeria Under-23 team (Image: timeslive.co.za)

Nigeria’s Under-23 team arrived late for a match

Nigeria’s Under-23 soccer team arrived in Manaus at 12:19 pm a few hours before their opening match against Japan. The team had been stranded in Atlanta, USA because the plane was too small to carry the entire team and the Nigerian Sports Ministry delayed payments to a charter airline company.

Junior athletes run past an Athletics Kenya sign (Image: sports.inquirer.net)
Junior athletes run past an Athletics Kenya sign (Image: sports.inquirer.net)

Kenya’s doping saga

Team Kenya faced a battle off the track after two senior officials were caught in a doping scandal. Team manager Michael Rotich was caught in a footage asking for $13,000 from undercover British journalists who posed as athletics coaches. A second official, John Anzrah was caught with the accreditation card of Ferguson Rotich, an 800m runner, who was set to undergo a random drug test.  He also provided a urine sample for the athlete. Anzrah was consequently sent home.

Team South Africa - Caster Semenya for South Africa
Caster Semenya for South Africa – bbc.com

Caster Semenya made history for SA

Caster Semenya became the first black woman to win an Olympic gold for South Africa. She won the 800 metres gold beating Burundi’s and Kenya’s who took silver and bronze respectively.

Wayde van Niekerk sets new world record
Wayde van Niekerk sets new world record – liverpoolecho.co.uk

SA’s Niekerk became the first African to break a sprint world record

Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa became the first man to run under 43 seconds in the 400 meters. He won gold in 43.03 seconds, breaking the 17-year old record of 43. 19, set by legendary Michael Johnson of USA in 1999 in Seville, Spain. He is the first African to hold a sprint world record.

image: laopinion.com.co
image: laopinion.com.co

Robel the Whale

Robel Kiros Habte represented Ethiopia in the Men’s 100 metres Freestyle and came last in his heat. His pouch protruded earning him the nickname, Robel the Whale on social media. ECADF, an Ethiopian news site described him as ‘out of shape’. An Ethiopian journalist alleged that Habte went to Rio by virtue of being son to the nation’s swimming federation president.

Hedaya Malak Wahba celebrates after winning the bronze medal (Reuters)
Hedaya Malak Wahba celebrates after winning the bronze medal (Reuters)

First Taekwondo medal for Egypt

Hedaya Malak Wahba became the first Egyptian woman to win an Olympic medal in Taekwondo. The Egyptian defeated Raheleh Asemani of Belgium to win bronze medal in the 75 kilogram category.

Image: lexpress.mu
Image: lexpress.mu

Mauritius Athlete beat cancer to compete in Rio

Mauritien  Fabienne St Louis competed in the women’s triathlon, barely a year since she was diagnosed with cancer. Fabienne was diagnosed with salivary cancer in December 2015. She underwent two surgeries to remove the tumour and cancerous cells in April this year, leaving her with paralysis for three months. She was forced to withdraw from the Olympics race midway after the swimming race.

Egypt's Islam El Shehaby, blue, declines to shake hands with Israel's Or Sasson (Image: foxsports.com.au)
Egypt’s Islam El Shehaby, blue, declines to shake hands with Israel’s Or Sasson (Image: foxsports.com.au)

Egypt’s Shehaby handshake snob

Islam El Shehaby, an Egyptian judo player was sent home after refusing to shake the hand of Israel’s Or Sasson after their bout. He lost the bout and was sent home by Team Egypt officials and reprimanded by the International Committee for his unsporting behavior.

Kenyan Athlete David Rudisha
Kenyan Athlete David Rudisha – (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Kenya’s Rudisha equaled an old record

David Rudisha of Kenya won the Men’s 800 metres, defending the title won in Beijing four years ago. The win earned a place in Olympics history alongside Douglas Lowe of Britain (1924, 1928), Mal Whitfield of USA (1948, 1952) and Peter Snell of New Zealand (1960, 1964) as athletes to defend their Olympic crowns in the race.

Almaz Ayana (Image: seven.zimboscholars.net)
Almaz Ayana (Image: seven.zimboscholars.net)

Ethiopia’s Ayana shatters New record

Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia won the 10,000 metres, setting a new world and Olympic record of 29:17: 45 seconds. Wang Junxia of China held the previous World record of 29:31:78 while compatriot, Tirunesh Dibaba held the Olympic record of 29:54:66, set at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

on Day 15 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 20, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
on Day 15 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 20, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Controversy for medalists

Caster Semenya of South Africa led an African 1-2-3 sweep in the women’s 800 metres, followed by Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi and Margaret Nyairera of Kenya respectively. The three came under scrutiny after their muscular physiques and testosterone levels were questioned by competitors and commentators alike.