Blessing Okagbare is proving to be the big star at the African Athletics Championships in Nairobi, Kenya.  She blessed Nigeria with two more gold medals on Friday, in the women’s long jump and the 4-by-100 meter relay, and now has won three gold medals total in the Kenyan capital.

On Thursday, the 21-year-old Okagbare earned the right to be called “Africa’s Fastest Woman” when she won the 100-meter dash in Nairobi in 11.03 seconds.

The rising star from Sapele, Delta State, was one of the few bright spots for Nigeria at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where she won a bronze medal in the women’s long jump.  As we look ahead to the 2012 Olympics in London, I think Okagbare will be one of Africa’s top medal hopefuls.

She has improved her athletic skills here in the USA, where she attends the University of Texas at El Paso on an athletic scholarship.

Blessing Okagbare, a big blessing for Nigerian athletics.

Spanish fans celebrate as the Dutch come to terms with their team’s third close call. For those following the story of Paul the “psychic octopus,” Spain’s win put him at a solid 8-for-8.

FIFA and South African officials congratulate the host country for a successful tournament. You know it’s gone well when the most serious incident to report was several hundred fans missing a quarterfinals game due to bad weather and congestion.

Tempering the excitement is news of the bomb blasts in Uganda that targeted crowds gathered to watch the World Cup finals. VOA will keep updating that story, so stay tuned to voaafrica.com for the latest.

Whichever team is crowned victor on Sunday, it will be holding aloft the trophy for the very first time. Neither Spain nor the Netherlands has ever won a World Cup, and this will be Spain’s first trip to the finals.

Also in this video, a look ahead to Sunday’s closing ceremonies and a discussion of who will take home the coveted Golden Boot Award.

After the Netherlands’ victory over Uruguay, Sunday’s World Cup finals will be a battle between two European teams – for the second year in a row. The Dutch are hoping to secure their first-ever World Cup victory.

Also, Ghana’s Black Stars return home to a hero’s welcome in Accra.

I think one of my lasting memories of this World Cup here in South Africa will be Asamoah Gyan crying as he walked off the pitch at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg.  Gyan and “The Black Stars” of Ghana had just suffered an agonizing quarterfinal loss to Uruguay on penalty kicks.  Gyan had a chance to win the game for Ghana with the final kick in extra time.  He lined up for a penalty shot, after Uruguay’s Luis Suarez was sent off for a handball on the line.  And, simply based on Ghana’s previous World Cup matches, you had to like Gyan’s chances.  He had scored off penalty shots against Serbia and Australia in the group stages.   But, Gyan’s shot hit the crossbar, silencing the pro-Ghana crowd of more than 84,000 in the stadium.

I’m sure Gyan wasn’t the only Ghanaian crying after such an excruciating defeat.  And, I think there were tears by non-Ghanaians, too.  “The Black Stars” had the support of many African football fans at this first World Cup ever held on African soil.  Many hoped and prayed for “The Black Stars” ahead of the match against Uruguay, as they wanted to see Ghana become the first African team to advance to the World Cup semifinals.  In fact, in Ghana’s capital, Accra, special prayer sessions were held, as fans of “The Black Stars” sought divine intervention.

Asamoah Gyan says he will bounce back, though, and I believe “The Black Stars” will, too.  Speaking after the loss, Ghana’s three-time African Footballer of the Year Abedi Pele mentioned how young the team is – the squad’s average age is 24 years and nine months – and how he thinks “The Black Stars” can do big things at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.  After making it to the second round at the 2006 World Cup in Germany and the quarterfinals at the 2010 World Cup here in South Africa, these tears could very well help “The Black Stars” fuel an even deeper run at Brazil 2014.

Between Ghana attempting to become the first African team to reach the semis, and five-time World Cup champions Brazil taking on the thus-far-undefeated Dutch, Friday’s matches promise to be some of the most exciting we’ve had so far.

Also, will President Jonathan’s suspension of the Nigerian team stand and what could it mean for the country’s future prospects?