Olympics
It’s 9th day of Paris 2024; see what will happen
The curtain comes down on “Marchand mania” with the final swimming events at La Defense Arena on Sunday, just as the action at the Stade de France athletics track reaches fever pitch with the men’s 100 metres final.
Novak Djokovic takes on Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros in a blockbuster men’s singles tennis final, while Xander Schauffele will be hunting for back-to-back gold medals at the Le Golf National course.
Four gold medals are on offer in the pool, three Olympic titles will be decided in artistic gymnastics, while champions will also be crowned in shooting, archery, badminton, fencing and golf.
LYLES TAKES TO FIELD IN ATHLETICS
Stade de France is the place to be for the fans as it stages the men’s 100 metres semi-final and medal race where American Noah Lyles is chasing a rare Olympic sprint double.
Lyles has Jamaican Kishane Thompson hoping to spoil the party, along with Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala, the second-fastest man this year.
Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh fights to add Olympic high jump gold to her World Championship title in the women’s event, after breaking the world record – a mark that had stood since 1987 – earlier this month with 2.10 metres.
SWIMMING COMPETITION ENDS
The swimming competition in Paris ends with four medal events after nine days of thrills, when the fastest woman in the pool will be crowned in the 50m freestyle final. World record holder Sarah Sjoestroem of Sweden is the favourite.
After winning gold in the 800m freestyle, Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen will look to complete the distance double having topped the 1,500m freestyle heats.
The night ends with men’s and women’s 4x100m medley relay finals, with the defending champion United States team under pressure from a Leon Marchand-inspired France.
MOUTH-WATERING CLASH IN TENNIS
The final day of the tennis competition at Roland Garros offers a mouth-watering men’s singles final as Serbia’s Djokovic tries to add a first Olympic gold medal to his 24 Grand Slam titles.
He will be up against Spain’s Alcaraz who will start favourite after beating Djokovic to win Wimbledon.
ARTISTIC GYMNASTS ON BARS AND VAULT
The gold medal in the women’s uneven bars will be awarded on a night when Simone Biles will be watching, not competing. French-born Algerian Kaylia Nemour will be vying for gold.
The men’s rings final and vault also take place.
MEN’S DOUBLES GOLD ON THE LINE IN BADMINTON
China take on Taiwan in what promises to be an electric encounter for gold in the men’s doubles final, while reigning men’s singles champion Viktor Axelsen faces relative newcomer Lakshya Sen from India.
WOMEN’S SKEET SHOOTING GOLD FINAL
Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Wei Meng of China will have to raise her level to make the final of the women’s skeet event, while Britain’s Amber Rutter looks safe behind Germany’s table-topper Nele Wissmer after three rounds of qualification.
Rutter has a point to prove, having missed out on the Tokyo Games after testing positive for COVID two days before the opening ceremony.
BASKETBALL WOMEN SEAL KNOCKOUT SPOTS
The final women’s group games will be played at Pierre Mauroy stadium in Lille, with eight of the 12 teams going through to the quarter-finals.
Canada take on Nigeria and Australia face already-qualified France, while the United States meet Germany, with both teams having also made it through to the knockout stages
MEN ON THE MARK AT ARCHERY
The men’s individual medals are awarded in archery at Invalides. Turkey’s Mete Gazoz will seek to defend his gold from Tokyo against competitors from South Korea, who have won every archery gold medal in Paris so far.
FOX ON THE HUNT AT CANOEING
Australia’s Jessica Fox resumes her quest for a clean sweep of the canoeing gold medals as she takes part in the kayak cross competition at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
VERDICT OUT FOR 3X3 BASKETBALL MEN’S POOL
The men’s pool stage delivers its final verdict after defending champions Latvia locked up a semi-final spot.
The other top team from the pool go straight to the semi-finals, the next four teams play off for the other two spots in the last four and the last two are eliminated.
GOLD ON OFFER AT GOLF
The men’s golf competition concludes at Le Golf National near Paris, with the final round on Sunday.
American Schauffele is on track to repeat his Tokyo triumph, taking the joint lead with Spain’s Jon Rahm going into the final round, with Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood one shot back in third.
RARE CONTEST ON OFFER AT TABLE TENNIS
China’s Fan Zhendong faces Swede Truls Moregard in the first table tennis men’s singles final since 2004 that is not between two Chinese players.
Home favourite Felix Lebrun will fight it out for bronze with Brazil’s Hugo Calderano.
FAIR WINDS AT THE SAILING
Kiteboarding makes its debut on a day filled with racing in the six remaining events in Olympic sailing.
With more wind than during the first phase of the Games, the races are faster and more physically demanding, but without the frustrations of long delays for sailors.
-Reuters
By Kunle Solaja.
Nigeria’s senior women’s national team, the Super Falcons, will begin their campaign for a place at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games from the second round of the African qualifiers after being granted a bye in the opening stage.
The draw, conducted on Wednesday in Cairo by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), placed Nigeria among 29 higher-ranked teams exempted from the first round of the series.
The Super Falcons will take on the winner of the first-round clash between South Sudan and Comoros in their opening fixture of the qualifiers.
A total of 35 nations are competing for just two available slots allocated to Africa for the women’s football tournament at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, underlining the intensity and high stakes of the qualification process.
The qualifiers will be contested over five knockout rounds on a home-and-away basis, leaving little room for error as teams battle for continental representation on the global stage.
The first round involves the six lowest-ranked teams—Sudan, Mauritius, Djibouti, South Sudan, Madagascar and Comoros—based on the latest FIFA Women’s World Rankings. Winners from this stage will advance to face each other again before the 29 seeded teams, including Nigeria, enter the fray.
Nigeria will be aiming to consolidate their status among Africa’s elite women’s football nations, having qualified for the most recent Olympic tournament alongside Zambia at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Although the Super Falcons boast a notable Olympic pedigree, having made their debut at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and subsequently appearing at Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and Paris 2024, qualification has not always been easy.
The 16-year gap between their last two participations in Beijing 2008 and Paris 2024 illustrates the tough time they have endured in the qualifying series.
With the women’s football event at Los Angeles 2028 set to feature 16 teams—including hosts the United States—Nigeria’s path to qualification is expected to be demanding.
Attention will now shift to the preliminary encounter between South Sudan and Comoros, as Nigeria’s technical crew intensify preparations ahead of their second-round entry point.
For the Super Falcons, the mission is clear: successfully navigate a rigorous qualifying campaign and secure a return to the Olympic stage in 2028.
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Nigeria’s senior women’s national team, the Super Falcons, will on Wednesday discover their route to the football event of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles when the Confederation of African Football conducts the official draw in Cairo.
The draw ceremony, scheduled for April 29 at CAF headquarters in Egypt, will set in motion Africa’s qualifying campaign for the women’s football tournament of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
A total of 35 countries, including Nigeria, will participate in the race for just two tickets allocated to Africa for the Olympic football event, which will take place from July 11 to 29, 2028.
Alongside Nigeria, other contenders include continental heavyweights such as South Africa, Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco and Zambia, as well as a wide range of emerging nations from across the continent.
The full list of participating teams also features Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
According to CAF, the qualification series will be played over five rounds, gradually narrowing the field to the two teams that will fly Africa’s flag at the Olympics in the United States.
For Nigeria, Africa’s most successful women’s national team, the qualifiers present another opportunity to reaffirm their continental dominance and secure a return to the Olympic stage after recent mixed fortunes in global competitions.
The Super Falcons, nine-time African champions, are expected to be among the top seeds when the draw is conducted, a factor that could influence their early-round opponents.
Wednesday’s ceremony in Cairo will therefore provide clarity on the fixtures, timelines and potential hurdles facing Nigeria and other contenders as the road to Los Angeles officially begins.
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By Kunle Solaja.
Morocco’s senior women’s national team will on Wednesday learn their opponents and qualification pathway to the football event of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games when the Confederation of African Football stages the official draw in Cairo.
The draw, billed for April 29 at CAF headquarters in Egypt, marks the starting point of Africa’s qualifying campaign, with 35 nations set to battle for just two coveted Olympic slots.
For Morocco, the exercise represents another significant step in the country’s rapidly rising profile in women’s football. The Atlas Lionesses, who have emerged as one of Africa’s most improved sides in recent years, will be aiming to secure a historic qualification for the Olympic Games.
The North Africans will face stiff competition from traditional powerhouses such as Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon and Ghana, alongside other ambitious sides including Zambia and Senegal.
Also in the race are Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
CAF confirmed that the qualifiers will unfold across five rounds, with the field gradually trimmed down until only two teams remain to represent Africa at the Olympics in the United States from July 11 to 29, 2028.
Morocco are expected to be among the seeded teams for the early rounds, a reflection of their recent performances on the continental stage, including their strong showing at recent Women’s Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.
Wednesday’s draw in Cairo will therefore be crucial in determining Morocco’s early matchups and the potential obstacles on their path, as they seek to translate recent progress into a maiden appearance at the Olympic Games.
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