Sonny Side of Sports

Rudisha Runs To 800-Meter World Record

Here’s a big Sonny Side of Sports salute for David Rudisha, Kenya’s new world record holder at 800-meters.  David clocked 1:41.09 at an international meet in Berlin to break the nearly 13-year-old record (of 1:41:11) set by Wilson Kipketer, another athlete from Kenya, which has produced so many of the world’s greatest runners.

The 21-year-old Rudisha has been having an outstanding season on the European circuit.  Once the pacemaker dropped out after the first lap in Berlin, Rudisha moved into a higher gear, exploding away from the field in the German capital.  “I saw I was inside world record pace in the final straight and I just went for it,” said Rudisha, whose family has a proud athletic pedigree.

David’s father, Daniel, won a silver medal for Kenya in the 4 x 400-meter relay at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.  David says he’s hoping to win a medal at the 2012 Olympics in London.  At only 21 years of age, David Rudisha says he feels he has room to improve and can run even faster.

SSOS Salutes For Didier Drogba & Benjamin Boukpeti

The English Premier League, which is widely followed by football fans in Africa and all over the world, officially kicked off 14 August.  In the most lopsided result of the weekend, defending champion Chelsea crushed West Bromwich Albion, 6-0.  In this video, Sonny gives an official SSOS salute for Chelsea and Ivory Coast star Didier Drogba, who scored three goals in the match.

Sonny gives another SSOS salute for Olympic bronze medalist Benjamin Boukpeti of Togo. Benjamin made history at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, where he became the first Togolese athlete to win an Olympic medal. The 29-year-old Boukpeti won the medal in kayaking, a sport that is not well known in Togo.

Boukpeti recently launched a kayaking training program for Togolese youth to help raise interest in the sport. “It was natural, being the first Togolese canoe Olympic medal winner, to bring this sport to Togo,” says Boukpeti, who was born in France to a French mother and a Togolese father.

Chinedu Sings The Blues

VOA's Chinedu Offor

My VOA colleague Chinedu Offor was “singing the Blues” when he came into our office this morning. Chinedu loves to “sing the Blues,” especially after another victory by “The Blues” of Chelsea, the reigning English Premier League football champions.

Chelsea got off to a great start in defense of its league title, crushing West Bromwich Albion, 6-0, on 14 August.  The big hero for “The Blues” was two-time African Footballer of the Year Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast, who scored three goals.

Chinedu says a lot of people didn’t realize Drogba wasn’t 100% during this year’s World Cup in South Africa. He broke a bone in his arm in early June during a friendly match against Japan, and there was much doubt about whether he would even compete in football’s premier event.

Now, though, Drogba is back in top goal-scoring form, and it looks like Chinedu Offor will be “singing the Blues” again throughout the English Premier League season.

D.C. & Toronto Tennis & Cliff Diving in Italy


Sonny twirls his trusty Wilson racket in this video for pro tennis news from Toronto and Washington, D.C. And there’s also some cliff diving footage from Italy at the end.

2004 Olympic Champion Justlin Gatlin of the USA Plus Horse Racing In South Africa


Highlights in this video include a Sonny Side of Sports salute for Nigerian athlete Blessing Okagbare, plus we’ll hear from 2004 Olympic champion Justin Gatlin of the USA, who made a successful return to the track after a four-year suspension for doping violations.

African Athletics Championships & Nigerian Heavyweight Samuel Peter Gets A Rematch


Host Kenya tops the medals table at the 17th African Athletics Championships in Nairobi; Sonny also throws a phantom punch ahead of the Samuel Peter-Wladimir Klitschko heavyweight title fight 11 September in Frankfurt, Germany.

London Olympics Countdown & Nigerian Athlete Blessing Okagbare