Olympics
‘Operation No Mercy’ As Banyana Coach Cautions Against Complacency Despite Convincing First Leg Away Victory Over Tanzania –
Banyana Banyana coach, Desiree Ellis has cautioned against the trap of falling into complacency in the return leg of the third round of Paris 2024 Qualifiers against Tanzania.
The reigning CAF Women’s Coach of the Year and her charges had a successful trip to Tanzania on Friday, 23 February where goals from the attacking trio of Jermaine Seopesenwe, Thembi Kgatlana and Hildah Magaia secured a 3-0 away victory for the reigning African champions.
Banyana Banyana, who have featured twice at the Olympics (2012, 2016) are looking at making a return to the global showpiece, which will have two spots reserved for Africa.
Commenting post the convincing victory, Ellis said she was happy with the result but believed that her team could still play even better.
“I am very happy with the result, but I also know that we can play way better. I think we can only get better from here onwards. The (domestic) league hasn’t started so it was expected that we might struggle a bit and be rusty playing against a Tanzanian team who’s got mostly local players and they’ve played ten league matches so far,” said Ellis.
While a three-goal advantage seems to be quite a comfortable position to be in ahead of the return leg, the former Banyana Banyana captain says the job must be finished at home and that there was no room for complacency.
“We have to finish the job back home. We don’t want to become complacent. The next goal in the match could change things and we have to score the next goal and once that is over you know then we’ll worry on who we’ll have to face, be it Nigeria be it Cameroon. We still have a job to do. We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, we want to make sure that we finish the job”, concluded Ellis.
The Olympic rings installed on the Eiffel Tower since June to celebrate the upcoming Olympic Games were removed from the Parisian monument early on Friday morning, as confirmed by an AFP photographer. But the Paris City Hall intends to replace them with a more permanent structure until 2028.
The five-coloured rings, measuring 29 metres in length and 15 metres in height, were placed between the first and second levels of the iconic iron structure on 7 June.
According to Inside the Games publication, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wants the Olympic symbol to continue decorating the monument until the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
But the descendants of the tower’s creator, Gustave Eiffel are opposing the move. They are insisting that the Olympic rings are aesthetically in conflict with the concept and design of the Tower.
The 30-tonne rings initially installed on the Eiffel Tower were also not designed to withstand winter weather conditions.
Olympics
Despite Egypt winning 3 medals at Paris Olympics, President Al-Sisi orders sports system overhaul
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ordered a comprehensive evaluation of sports federations that participatedat the Paris Olympic Games, following a mission report submitted by the country’s sports minister.
The mandate includes a thorough expenditure check and a performance review to better highlight areas of improvement and fund allocation in future Games.
Additionally, the president plans to take necessary measures against federations —such as limiting funds— that had negative results in the Paris Games.
Egypt’s participation in sports where it lacks a competitive advantage will also be limited, as the president aims to direct resources to promising athletes to ensure optimal results. The president also aims to reduce administrative and technical staff within Olympic delegations and task relevant ministries with preparing future Olympic athletes.
Al-Sisi’s Olympic overhaul is to be presented to the cabinet for approval and urged the government to prioritise amending the sports law for the House of Representatives for review.
Egypt took home a total of three medals in the Summer Games. Ahmed El-Gendy triumphed in modern pentathlon, Sara Samir claimed the silver in weightlifting, and 21-year-old fencer Mohamed El-Sayed earned the bronze.
-Insidethegames
Paris 2024 sold a record 12 million tickets for the Olympics and Paralympics, beating the Games record previously set by London 2012, organisers said on Sunday.
Some 9.5 million tickets were sold for the Olympics and 2.5 million for the Paralympics, which end on Sunday.
In 2012, London organisers set the record for the Paralympics with 2.7 million tickets sold but only 8.2 million were sold for the Olympics.
-Reuters
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