SPORT - The African Mirror

Sep

02

2020

Faith Ogallo, Kenya’s taekwondo sensation

SPORT

KARIEN JONCKHEERE WHEN strangers discover that Faith Ogallo competes in martial arts, they generally have one of two responses, particularly if they’re men. “Being a lady, I am usually asked whether I am not worried about being disfigured, and others also ask whether I am an aggressive type of person outside the ring,” she said. It’s unlikely they’d ask a male taekwondo professional the same questions. But rather than taking offence, Ogallo relishes the chance to set them straight. “This gives me the chance to convince them that impossible is nothing. Women can do better both in sports and in…

Sep

03

2020

By The African Mirror

Football star Neymar tests positive for COVID-19

SPORT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER The world most expensive football star Neymar - who plays for the Brazil national team and French league champions PSG - has tested positive for COVID-19. Neymar and Manchester United’s Paul Pogba are among high profile football stars to test positive for what is widely described as a silent killer that has infected more than 25-million people across the world and claimed in excess of 860 000 lives. Neymar’s club PSG has not named the player, only confirming that three players have tested positive for COVID-19. However, media reports emanating out of France and elsewhere have identified…

Sep

30

2020

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s top coach moves ‘out of comfort zone’ to Egypt

SPORT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER PITSO Mosimane, one of Africa’s successful coaches has left South Africa’s top team, Mamelodi Sundowns, because he wanted to push himself out of his comfort zone. Mosimane, who won the 2019/20 league title as well as the Nedbank Cup, dropped a bombshell when he announced that he was parting ways with the club he had managed for eight years. He is scheduled to be unveiled as the new coach of Egyptian top team Al Ahly. The appointment would be historic for Mosimane, who would become the first South African coach to manage an Egyptian team. In his…

Sep

30

2020

By The African Mirror

Kenyan weightlifting Olympian trains daughter and granddaughter

SPORT

NJERI MWANGI KEYSHA Atiki is only 10 but she can already lift her own weight as she trains with a weightlifting coach who once competed in the Olympics - her grandmother. Mercy Obiero was only the second African woman to compete in weightlifting at the Olympics, representing her native Kenya in 2012. Now retired from professional competition, the 42-year-old works as a coach, and both her daughter and granddaughter are hoping to follow in her footsteps. "I feel very happy and proud to be training my daughter and granddaughter at the same time," Obiero told Reuters at her house in…

Sep

30

2020

By The African Mirror

Prestigious honour for Didier Drogba

SPORT

BOITUMELO RANTAO RETIRED legendary African football star Didier Drogba has won a prestigious honour from European Football Association (UEFA). Drogba, the Ivory Coast superstar who represented his country for many years and played for Chelsea in the British Premier League, is the 2020 winner of the UEFA President Award, for his contribution to football. UEFA president, Aleksander Čeferin - said Drogba “is a hero to millions of football fans for his achievements throughout his glittering playing career. He is a leader – a pioneer.” Drogba, who won the Champions League trophy with Chelsea, will receive the award at the draw…

Sep

27

2020

By The African Mirror

Bottas wins as penalties haunt Hamilton in Russia

SPORT

BOITUMELO RANTAO MERCEDES’ Valterri Bottas comfortably won the Russian Grand Prix but his teammate and world champion Lewis Hamilton would feel that the race stewards took away what would have been his record-equalling 91st victory. Bottas stormed past Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, and briefly troubled leader Hamilton, before leading the rest of the way and taking the chequered flag for his second win of the season. Hamilton led the race at Sochi when the stewards dropped a bombshell and docked him 10 seconds for violating the practice start rule twice. The penalty denied Hamilton an opportunity to equal the legendary…

Sep

26

2020

By The African Mirror

Hamilton inches closer to record with pole in Sochi

SPORT

BOITUMELO RANTAO DEFENDING world champion Lewis Hamilton delivered a class performance, when he needed to and claimed his 96th pole position in qualifying at the Russian GP in dramatic fashion. The pole position gives Hamilton a golden chance to claim his 91st victory and equal the great Michael Schumacher’s record. Hamilton found himself in last place with two minutes left in the second qualifying session, following a red flag after a Ferrari crash. The champion then produced a sensational lap, a new track record at Sochi, with just 1.25 seconds left in the session. He admitted that it was not…

Sep

25

2020

By The African Mirror

Highly sought after Senagalese keeper moves to Chelsea

SPORT

BOITUMELO RANTAO BRITISH Premier league team Chelsea FC have secured the signature of Senagalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. The goalkeeper has signed a five-year contract with the English club who succeeded in luring the 28-year old away from french club Rennes. Mendy made 25 appearances during the 2019/2020 season. He has moved to Chelsea for a transfer fee of £22 million. Menday is thrilled to be joining a club with such an illustrious history and was raring to get started. “I am so excited to be joining Chelsea. It’s a dream for me to be a part of this exciting squad…

Sep

23

2020

By The African Mirror

German F1 Grand Prix to allow up to 20,000 fans

SPORT

NEXT month's Eifel Grand Prix at Germany's Nuerburgring track can have as many as 20,000 fans in attendance, local authorities have announced, with the region's coronavirus infections under control. "The permission for 20,000 fans is within the decision of the state that allows up to 20 percent of stadium capacity for major sports events if infection figures are inconspicuous and the public infrastructure allows for social distancing rules to be met," Ahrweiler district council said. Tickets for the October 11 race went on sale shortly after the decision. The Nuerburgring can normally accommodate more than 100,000 spectators. Germany reported 922…

Sep

21

2020

By The African Mirror

Made in Africa: Didier Drogba

SPORT

19 May 2012: Chelsea Football Club’s Didier Drogba during the UEFA Champions League Final in Munich, Germany. (Photograph by Liewig Christian/ Corbis via Getty Images) ON a beautiful day in south-west London in June 2019, Didier Drogba is holding court at the ground where he is still a king. Sporting a baseball cap turned backwards as he patiently conducts interview after interview ahead of the Soccer Aid charity match at Stamford Bridge, even four years after he last played for Chelsea and despite the presence of the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt among the cast list, the former Ivory Coast…