South Africa’s Fallen Blade Runner
Where there was once joy and smiles on the track, there are now bowed heads and tears in a Pretoria courtroom. The last time I blogged about Oscar Pistorius, South Africa’s “Blade Runner,” was on July 4, 2012, the Independence Day holiday in the United States. Pistorius described that day as one of the proudest […]
Algerian Olympian Makhloufi Bounces Back
Algeria’s Taoufik Makhloufi won the gold medal in the 1500 meters Tuesday night in what’s being described as one of the most remarkable recoveries at the London Olympics. The 24-year-old Makhloufi won his country’s first medal at the Games only 24 hours after being disqualified from the Olympics and then reinstated. “It’s the will of […]
Ethiopia’s Tiki Gelana Wins Olympic Women’s Marathon
London’s iconic landmarks and quickly changing weather were both on display in Sunday’s Olympic women’s marathon, which was won by Ethiopia’s Tiki Gelana in an Olympic record 2:23:07. The field of 118 runners started the race in a light rain. After about an hour of competition, the sun appeared and steam rose off the streets, […]
Young Olympians From Malawi and Seychelles Make Splash
Two of the youngest Olympians here in London are swimmers from Malawi and the Seychelles. Joyce Tafatatha and Aurelie Fanchette, both 14, are delighted to be competing in their first Olympic Games. Fanchette swam Monday (July 30) in the women’s 200 meters freestyle heats. Even though her time (2:23.49) was almost 30 seconds slower than […]
Cheruiyot Runs For Olympic Gold
Kenyan world champion Vivian Cheruiyot begins her quest for two Olympic gold medals Friday when athletics action gets under way at the Olympic Stadium here in London. The 28-year-old Cheruiyot is trying to match the achievement of Ethiopian rival Tirunesh Dibaba, who won gold at both 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters at the 2008 Beijing […]
Historical Olympic Victory For Cameron van der Burgh
Cameron van der Burgh made history here in London Sunday, becoming the first South African man to win an individual Olympic gold medal in swimming. And he did it in world record fashion, touching the wall in 58.46 seconds in the 100 meters breaststroke final. His time took 0.12 seconds off the world record set […]
Olympic Greetings From London
Hello from London! I arrived in the British capital with umbrella in hand after reading reports of record rainfall in the 2012 Olympic host city. But so far, sports fans, the weather has been on the sunny side. I’m staying in an area of east London known as Docklands, located on the northern end of […]
American Indian Olympic Champion Billy Mills
Billy Mills is proud of his wife Pat’s painting. “There’s so much information in it,” says Mills, the only American ever to win Olympic gold in the 10,000 meters race. “Ancestors, Olympic rings, Mount Olympus, Olympic columns, a dream catcher, me in a Lakota drum. The image she painted of me was after crossing the […]
Nigerian Olympian Blessing Okagbare
One Nigerian athlete to watch at the upcoming London Olympics is Blessing Okagbare, who will compete in the women’s long jump and in the women’s 100 meter dash. The 23-year-old Okagbare, bronze medalist in the long jump at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, won gold in the event at the recent African championships in Benin, as […]
Drogba & Kanu: Keepers of the Olympic Flame
The Olympic flame continues to wind its way to London, where on July 27th, it will ignite the Olympic cauldron during opening ceremonies for the Games of the XXX Olympiad. During the Olympic torch relay in the United Kingdom, the torch passed through the hands of two of Africa’s biggest football stars, Didier Drogba of […]
