Sonny Side of Sports

Kenya’s Record-Breaking Patrick Makau

Patrick Makau shows off his world record time in Berlin

Patrick Makau has reason to smile after successfully defending his Berlin Marathon title in record-breaking fashion. The 26-year-old Kenyan clocked 2:03:38, smashing Ethiopian star Haile Gebrselassie’s previous world record by 21 seconds. Haile set his record three years ago on the same Berlin course, regarded as one of the fastest on the international marathon circuit.

And Haile’s presence in this year’s race helped spur Makau on. The 38-year-old Ethiopian great looked ready to challenge Makau, with the two running with the lead pack through 25-kilometers. But at that point, Makau began to push the pace. Shortly after 35-kilometers, Haile stopped with breathing problems and withdrew from the race. Haile also dropped out of his previous marathon in New York last November, and it now raises questions about his readiness for next year’s London Olympics.

For his part, Patrick Makau says he would be very happy to represent Kenya at the 2012 Games in London. The women’s winner in Berlin, Florence Kiplagat, also has hopes of wearing Kenyan colors at the Olympics next year. Kenya swept the medals in the women’s marathon at the recent IAAF world championships in South Korea, and the results in Berlin show this proud distance running nation is ready to win more medals in the marathon at London 2012.

Ghana’s Birdman Soars To New Heights In MLS

Dominic Oduro

Ghanaian striker Dominic Oduro of the Chicago Fire says he got the nickname Birdman when he was based in Texas with his first Major League Soccer club, FC Dallas. In a phone interview with the Voice of America, the 26-year-old Oduro said the Dallas fans, so impressed with his speed on the pitch, said “he had wings and could fly on the field.”

The Birdman is soaring to new heights in his sixth MLS season. Through 28 matches, he has 10 goals, putting him two behind league leaders Thierry Henry and Landon Donovan. Oduro’s previous high in MLS was five goals. He told VOA it’s been a great season and he credits his success to gaining more experience and learning at each of his four MLS stops. Oduro has also played for the Houston Dynamo and he had a brief stint with the New York Red Bulls.

You’ll see Oduro’s speed on display in this video of a goal he scored earlier this season against the New England Revolution.

Before turning professional, Oduro played soccer at Prempeh College and the University of Ghana in his homeland, before transferring to Virginia Commonwealth University in 2004. He likes to wear a wristband with the Ghanaian flag on it during matches. “I’m born and raised Ghanaian,” says Oduro, “and I love my country. I always want Ghana to be part of me and that’s why I have that wristband.”

All Aboard! The Maputo Express @ 10th All Africa Games

#11 Maria Mutola in action at All Africa Games

Mozambique’s national women’s football team lost both its matches and scored only one goal at the 10th All Africa Games in Maputo, but the squad got a lot of attention because of its inspirational, 38-year-old captain Maria Mutola. The former 800-meter track star grew up playing soccer against boys, and she got a chance in her home city to show off her football skills again at the African sports festival.

In Mozambique’s 7-1 loss to Algeria, Mutola scored her team’s only goal just before the halftime break. Nicknamed The Maputo Express during her athletic career, Maria now lives in Johannesburg, and she says she’s been playing football the past few years in a South African women’s league.

Mozambique fielded a young and inexperienced women’s team in Maputo that was put together only a few months ago. Mutola says she was called in to bolster the team and she very much enjoyed the opportunity to compete in the biggest sporting event her country has hosted.

Maria Mutola is arguably Mozambique’s biggest sports star. Her athletics career spanned more than 20 years, during which she won three world outdoor titles and seven world indoor titles at 800-meters. She also competed in six Olympics, and at the 2000 Sydney Games became the first and only Mozambican to win an Olympic gold medal when she won the 800-meter final.

Darren And Other South Africans Say, “GO SPRINGBOKS!”

Sonny & Darren in Johannesburg

When I was in Johannesburg last year during the FIFA World Cup football tournament, I went to a coffee shop with my South African buddy Darren Taylor, a reporter for the Voice of America. While I sipped my dark roast, I quickly found out about the percolating popularity of South Africa’s national rugby team, nicknamed The Springboks.

The Springboks were playing an international match on television, and Darren and the other coffee shop patrons had their eyes glued to the action, cheering wildly whenever the South African team scored. I’m sure Darren and many South Africans will be cheering again on Sunday when the defending champion Springboks kick off their World Cup campaign against Wales in Wellington, New Zealand.

The Springboks are bidding for their third Rugby World Cup title. They beat England, 15-6, in the final of the 2007 Rugby World Cup, at the Stade de France just outside Paris. And in 1995, playing on home soil at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, the South African team made history by beating the All Blacks of New Zealand, 15-12 in extra time, for their first World Cup trophy.

Invictus movie poster

Following the big victory, South African President Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok rugby shirt and cap, presented the Webb Ellis Cup to South African captain Francois Pienaar. Their celebration on the Ellis Park pitch is credited with helping unite a country that had been torn apart by racial tensions from the apartheid era. It also inspired the 2009 Clint Eastwood film, Invictus, starring Morgan Freeman as President Mandela and Matt Damon as Pienaar.

John Smit, who captained the Springboks to the World Cup title in France four years ago, will again lead the team in New Zealand. The 33-year-old Smit has been criticized by fans and media in South Africa in advance of this World Cup for being badly out of form.  But rugged teammate Bakkies Botha is backing Smit. “He’s the best captain I’ve played under in leadership,” says Botha, “and as a person – he’s phenomenal.”

Botha and Smit are both playing in their third Rugby World Cup. They are part of an experienced South African squad that is bidding to become the first team to successfully defend its Rugby World Cup championship. If they lift the trophy on October 23 in Auckland, I’m sure Darren Taylor and many other South Africans will say once again, “GO SPRINGBOKS!”

Vivian Cheruiyot Charges Toward 2012 Olympics

Vivian Cheruiyot is looking ahead to next year’s London Olympics with a lot of confidence after a great performance at the recent world athletics championships in Daegu, South Korea. Cheruiyot, who celebrates her 28th birthday on September 11, swept the gold medals in the women’s 5000 meters and 10,000 meters in Daegu.

Her two gold medals generated headlines in her birthplace of Kenya as well as all over the world, with one describing her as “the biggest thing in distance running.”

In Daegu, Vivian showed off a big kick in successfully defending her world title in the 5000 meters. She ran the final lap in less than 59 seconds.

Vivian Cheruiyot says she first discovered her running talent when she was a young schoolgirl, running back and forth approximately five kilometers between her home and the classroom. She credits her husband, Moses Kiplagat, and her coach and manager, Ricky Simms, with her international athletic success.

In addition to her three world championship gold medals, Cheruiyot is also the reigning African and Commonwealth champion at 5000 meters. But she does not yet have an Olympic medal. At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Cheruiyot finished fifth in the 5000. But that could change next year in London.

Simms describes Cheruiyot as “an amazing talent” who will be very tough to beat in the British capital.

Mozambique Gets Ready For 10th All Africa Games

The 10th All Africa Games will officially open Saturday in Maputo, Mozambique. The quadrennial African sports festival was originally scheduled to be hosted by neighboring Zambia, but because of financial problems, the Zambians pulled out and the Mozambicans stepped in.

The Games, which go through September 18th, will feature competition in more than 20 sports, with one of the most popular expected to be the men’s football

Cameroon football fans

tournament. Cameroon has dominated All Africa Games football over the past 20 years, winning four of the five gold medals at stake. Cameroon is grouped with Uganda, Senegal and Ghana in the men’s soccer competition, while the other group features Egypt, South Africa, Madagascar and host Mozambique.

Estadio do Zimpeto

The 42,000-seat Estadio do Zimpeto will stage the soccer matches and will be the main stadium for the All Africa Games. The stadium was inaugurated a little more than four months ago and was built with funds from the Chinese government.

Some of the other sports that will be contested in Maputo

Sonny interviews Maria Mutola at 2001 IAAF World Athletics Championships in Edmonton, Canada

include athletics, basketball, boxing, gymnastics, swimming, tennis, volleyball and weightlifting. When I think of athletics and Mozambique, I think of Maria “The Maputo Express” Mutola, the now retired 800-meter star who during her great 21-year career competed in six Olympics and won the gold medal for Mozambique at the 2000 Sydney Games.

As a young girl, the 38-year-old Mutola excelled in football, and she’s planning to test her skills again on the soccer pitch. Mozambique officials have confirmed that Mutola will play for the host country’s women’s national football team during the All Africa Games.