Lt Col Mark Teeton, aged in his 40s, was stabbed just before 6 p.m. BST on Tuesday at Sally Port Gardens, near Brompton Barracks. He is currently in a serious but stable condition in hospital.
A24-year-old man, Anthony Esan, has been remanded in custody following charges of attempted murder related to a violent incident involving a uniformed army officer.
Esan appeared at Medway Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where he faced allegations stemming from the stabbing of the officer near a barracks in Kent.
The BBC reports that the court ordered Mr. Esan to be remanded in custody “for his own welfare and due to the seriousness of the alleged offenses.”
Lt Col Mark Teeton, aged in his 40s, was stabbed just before 6 p.m. BST on Tuesday at Sally Port Gardens, near Brompton Barracks. He is currently in a serious but stable condition in hospital.
Police said Mr. Esan, who faces charges of possessing an offensive weapon, was arrested half an hour later near his residence on Mooring Road in Rochester.
When asked to confirm his date of birth and address in court, Mr. Esan replied, “Why do you need that information?”
Prosecutor Rajni Prashar informed the court that a man was observed “charging up behind” Lt Col Teeton, then dragging him to the ground and stabbing him “multiple times.”
The Prosecutors told the court that Mr. Esan was apprehended on a moped shortly after the incident.
They reported that several knives were discovered during a search of the moped’s storage compartment.
The suspect is scheduled to appear at Maidstone Crown Court on August 22.
A defence source disclosed the soldier’s identity to the BBC.
Lt Col Teeton supervises an engineering course for the Royal Engineers, while the adjacent barracks houses the 1st Royal School of Military Engineering Regiment.
However, on Tuesday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer expressed, “Our thoughts are with [the soldier], his family, and our armed forces, who are dedicated to keeping us safe.”
After their lone goal loss to Brazil in their Group C opener of the Olympic Games, Super Falcons leave Bordeaux today for Nantes.
The host club of Bordeaux, FC Girondins de Bordeaux have filed for bankruptcy. This is coming just days after they were relegated to the third tier of French football after Liverpool soccer club’s owner withdrew from takeover talks, the former Ligue 1 club said on Thursday.
Earlier this month the six-times French champions were demoted from Ligue 2 by the National Directorate of Management Control due to financial concerns.
Once Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group, pulled out from takeover talks, it effectively ended the club’s survival hopes.
“It’s a difficult decision that anticipates an inevitable consequence of the restructuring process underway,” the club said in a statement.
Bordeaux will also abandon their professional status they have held since 1937 and close their renowned training academy, which has helped to develop players such as Bixente Lizarazu, Jules Kounde, and Zinedine Zidane.
Exactly one week ago this Friday, it was 72 years since Nigeria debuted at the Olympic Games in Helsinki. Since that July 19 date in 1952, Nigeria has featured in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games except that of Montreal in 1976 which the country boycotted along with some African and Asian countries.
Paris 2024 is therefore Nigeria’s 18th outing. What are the expectations of Nigeria? The desire to compete; the skills to excel, the courage to overcome and the strength to believe are the qualities of true sportsmen and great Olympians.
These are what Sports Village Square expects from Team Nigeria as Paris 2024 officially opens this Friday.
Sadly, the qualities articulated above are not well reflected in Nigeria’s participation in the Olympic Games, where the country appears just to make up the numbers.
No conscious effort to surpass previous marks. Hence, the country cannot look back to many memorable achievements in what is universally acknowledged as the greatest show on earth.
Nigeria obviously does not rank among the super powers in the Olympics and also not among the best ranked African countries at the Games.
These are the pictures Team Nigeria must strive to wipe off at the Paris 2024.
Somehow, Nigeria’s performances since Helsinki Games in 1952 have not reflected the spirit of the Olympic Games’ Motto: Citius – Altius – Fortius (Swifter – Higher -Stronger).
Sports Village Square’s study of Nigeria’s participation at the Olympics shows that a poor one often follows a fair outing.
Perhaps, few examples are necessary. The bronze medal that Nojeem Maiyegun won at the 1964 Tokyo Games was followed by a fruitless outing at the 1968 Games in Mexico.
After another bronze medal by Isaac Ikhouria at the Munich 1972 Games, Nigeria had a scandalous and barren-medal outing at the next appearance – the Moscow 1980 Games.
No medal was won at the 1988 Games after the lone silver and bronze medals at the Los Angeles 1984. The trend only changed when in Atlanta ’96, with two gold a silver and three bronze medals, proved a better outing than the preceding Barcelona ’92.
Yet the feat at Atlanta could not be matched at the Sydney 2000. Athens 2004 proved a return to the sad old cycle as Nigeria won just two bronze medals.
After the Barcelona ’92 Olympics, the nation went into jubilation over the four medal count achieved. A good result it was when compared with past achievements since the Helsinki 1952 debut.
The four-medal count comprising a bronze and three silver medals brought Nigeria’s count in 11 editions to eight medals. With medals of 1964, 1972, 1984, 1992 and 2004 added up, they are a mere fraction of what Kenya won at the Seoul 1988 Olympics alone.
The East Africans who have a fair control of the endurance races had a haul of five gold, two silver and two bronze medals at the Seoul 1988 Games.
Since 2000 Games, Nigeria has not won an Olympic gold medal. The three silver and two bronze medals achievement at Beijing 2008, which were an improvement on the two bronze medals at Athens 2004 was immediately followed by a barren outing at London 2012.
At Rio 2016, Nigeria returned with just a bronze medal. That single bronze medal completes Nigeria’s cycle of fluctuating fortunes. It is time to put an end to this.
One step towards achieving this is to glean intelligent reports that could aid better performances for Team Nigeria at the Olympics.
Allen Dulles, the CIA Director during the celebrated Bay of Pigs episode in the near war between US and Cuba in the early 1960s, remarked that “intelligence is probably the least understood and most misrepresented of the diplomatic profession.”
In short, he meant to say that all nations spy. One can add that sports teams also spy at potential and actual opponents.
Even though espionage is often linked with sinister activities, to those in international relations, this is a misconception. A bit of spying is necessary to adjust to the right situations if one is to achieve the best possible goal.
This is in sports as it is in relations among nations. Intelligent reports are gleaned on other contestants and opponents – both actual and potential.
This is what Team Nigeria appears yet to employ in place of shooting-in-dark approach in preparation for multi-discipline games. We should ask ourselves the salient question: what do others do that make them table-toppers always.
To achieve the status of an Olympic contender requires long and dedicated training. The burning desire to excel over others creates a champion.
Countries that have succeeded at the Olympics put up serious long and short-term planning. Nigeria’s preparation for most Games is often towards the commencement of the sporting fiestas. Olympic champions are not made that way.
One recalls the Barcelona ’92 Olympics, the very first that this reporter attended.
US at the games, topped the medals’ chart and in spite of the country’s upswing and a total medal count of 108 – the third highest in the games’ history at the time, – the Americans were worried that the figures could be misleading.
They were conscious that over half of their medals came from athletics and swimming out of the 22 sports entered for. They began a review of strategies to be employed at future games. They planned to upgrade other sports federations.
Still making Barcelona ‘92 a focal point, one recalls the situation regarding Spain, a nation not rated among the super athletics performers.
At Barcelona ’92 Games, their 22-medal count was a result of a four-year programme in which $120 million was spent on competitors and coaches.
The programme was aimed at changing Spain’s poor sports image. At the preceding Seoul ’88 Games, Spain won pitiable four medals. They went to the drawing board. “We wanted to give the world an image of Spain’s dynamic and modern trend, not only for folklore”, said the then sports minister, Hanvier Navarro, at a press conference at the close of Barcelona ’82.
For Spain, more than a dozen of coaches were imported from Cuba and the western bloc. They came as teachers in boxing, volleyball, archery, cycling etc.
They coached over 800 athletes who got subsidy of $80,000 a year for four years. In addition, a one million dollar pension scheme from a Spanish bank was planned for each gold medallist when he clocked 50. The money reportedly came from an insurance policy with an American firm which was to pay for each medal.
Such direct aid to sports is what Nigerian sports deserve to make great impact and produce great Olympians.
It is pertinent to find out how Australia managed to improve on their medals count over many Olympic Games. At Seoul ’88 for instance, Australia had 14 medals which progressively improved to 27 at Barcelona ’92, 41 at Atlanta ’96 and 58 at Sydney 2000.
At Athens 2004, their medal count was 49, though a drop from the previous 58, the Australians up till Tokyo 2020 have managed to be in the top 10 bracket of the final medals tables.
Australia is taken as a case study since using US, Russia and China may be going to the extreme owing to their overwhelming control of the Olympic Games final medals tables.
A study of organisation and funding of sports in Australia showed that the Australian Sports Institute awarded 600 scholarships a year and funded full-time coaches.
The Australian Institute of Sport is a high performance sports training institution. Since being established in 1981, it has seen the country shooting up in the Olympics medals tables.
If we may ask: what has become of Nigeria’s National Institute of Sports established about the same time as that of Australia?
Nigeria’s low performance at the Olympics may have also stemmed from the fact that the country is not taking advantage of its natural endowments.
One wonders why Nigeria has not considered investing in swimmers and aquatic-based athletes from the Niger Delta Region where water is their natural habitat.
The region should be producing not just gold medal winners in Africa, but also contenders at the Olympic and Commonwealth Games.
The multinational oil firms that impaired on the people’s natural economic activities and also made swimming impossible in the region can contribute in raising athletes and funding the maintenance of pools.
The control of the overall medals tables at African Games and the Olympics is mainly from the water-based sports. This will help to revive the latent talents in swimming which always account for the bulk of medals in most Games.
We have a choice to make whether to win few medals in the popular sports, or go for the lesser-known ones which fetch more medals and impart more on the overall tables.
Canoeing, may be a way of life in the river-side areas of Nigeria, but as a sport, it is insignificant. But the relatively unknown Nigerians won four gold medals for the country in this unrated sports discipline in the country at the Rabat 2019 African Games.
Imagine the return on investment on the two athletes, Ayomide Bello and Goodness Foloki that won the four medals.
This brings to the fore, the application of the principle of comparative advantage in sports. As in international trade, Nigeria should look into those sports, even if not popular, that are indigenous to its citizens to make marks in multi-discipline games.
We have seen our strength in wrestling and weightlifting. These are not popular sports by Nigerians’ reckoning, but they brought glory.
The US, China and Russia that always top medals tables at the Olympics don’t rely on football or any other team event that only contribute to shooting up contingents’ sizes and expenditure without having corresponding impact on overall medal achievements.
Archery, canoeing, rowing, diving and equestrian sports among others are indigenous to some parts of Nigeria and the indigenes are naturally endowed.
Canoeing for instance, is part of normal life in the riverside areas. We saw what we did in that sport at Rabat 2019 where Nigeria won four gold medals to be second to South Africa that had eight.
Investing in that sport may breed future Olympic champions. Archery and horsemanship are indigenous to the North.
If the Tony Ikazoboh’s proposal of decentralising sports federations instead of their clustering in the federal capital is accepted; an association for archery and equestrian sports should be located in the North where talents abound. While swimming federation should be located in the South South.
Walking has become a way of life in Nigeria. With proper teaching of the rules, talents for the Olympic Games will not be in short supply in Lagos area and other urban centres where chaotic transport system has created the enabling environment for prospective Olympic medallists in walking.
In summary, Nigeria should make concrete efforts at identifying the reasons why other countries perform well at the Olympics and how the country too can excel.
August 26, 1972 – Isaac Ikhouria won a bronze medal in the boxing event of the Munich Olympic Games.
July 28, 1984 – The Nigerian 4 x 400 team of Innocent Egbunike, Sunday Uti, Rotimi Peters and Moses Ugbusien won the bronze medal at the Los Angeles Olympics.
July 28, 1984 – Peter Konyengwachie won the silver medal in the featherweight category of boxing at the Los Angeles Olympics.
July 25, 1992 – Richard Igbineghu won a silver medal in the Super Heavyweight category of boxing at the Barcelona Olympics. Also, David Izonritei won silver medal in heavy weight category after losing to Cuba’s Felix Savon in the final.
July 25, 1992 – The Nigerian quartet of Mary Onyali, Faith Idehen, Christy Opara-Thompson and Beatrice Utondu won the bronze medal in 4x100m Women at the Barcelona Olympics.
July 29, 1996 – Falilat Ogunkoya became Nigeria’s first individual woman Olympic medallist when she won bronze medal in 400 metres at the Atlanta Olympics
August 2, 1996 – Chioma Ajunwa produced an amazing first round leap of 7.12m to become Nigeria’s first Olympic medallist.
August 3, 1996 – The Nigerian quartet of Falilat Ogunkoya, Fatima Yusuf, Christy Opara and Bisi Afolabi won the silver medal in 4x400m Women at the Atlanta Olympics.
August 3, 1996 – Nigeria win the gold medal of the football event of the Atlanta ’96 Olympics. It is the first time a team outside Europe will do that in 68 years. Nigeria also put an end to Europe’s successive victory. Since, no European team has won.
August 4, 1996 – Duncan Dokiwari wins a bronze medal in the super heavyweight category of boxing at the Atlanta Olympics.
September 27, 2000 – Glory Alozie won the silver medal for Nigeria in women’s 100 hurdles at the Sydney Olympics.
September 30, 2000 – Nigeria won the silver medal in the men’s 4×400 relay at the Sydney Olympics. Years later, the quartet was upgraded to gold medalists after the disqualification of the American team.
September 30, 2000 – Nigeria won the bronze medal in the women’s 4×400 relay at the Sydney Olympics.
August 27, 2004 – Nigeria won the bronze medal in the men’s 4 x 400 relay at the Athens Olympics.
August 28, 2004 – Nigeria won the bronze medal in the men’s 4×100 relay at the Athens Olympics.
August 21, 2008 – Nigeria won the bronze medal in the women’s 4×100 relay at the Beijing Olympics.
August 21, 2008 – Chika Chukwumerije won a bronze for Nigeria in the men’s heavyweight category of taekwondo at the Beijing Olympics.
August 22, 2008 – Blessing Okagbare won a bronze medal for Nigeria in women’s Long jump at the Beijing Olympics.
August 23, 2008 – Nigeria win the silver medal in the men’s football event of Beijing Olympics.
Marta who scored a disallowed goal against Nigeria and later offered the assist to the lone goal with which the team beat the Super Falcons , is in her sixth Olympic Games.
She revealed how she keeps fit and is a high-performance athlete at 38 years old. “There’s no secret. It’s dedication, it’s a lot of willpower, it’s giving 100%, it’s being focused and I’ve been doing that my whole life. That’s the tip: a lot of discipline.”
The triumph could have been greater: Marta managed to score, but her goal was disallowed for offside. Soon after, the number 10 was responsible for the assist for Gabi Nunes, who scored the winning goal.
An Olympic news website, Inside the Games has opened up on decision by Olympic Games’ organisers to use cardboard beds at the Games Village where the Paris 2024 athletes are camping.
It is simply to reduce athletes’ promiscuity. The use of cardboard bed was first implemented at the Tokyo 2020 held in 2021.
However, it is gathered that the decision had its root in 2016 games in Rio Brazil. Then, there was a sex scandal involving a diver, Ingrid Olivera and rower, Pedro Goncalves.
Oliveira recounted that although news of their encounters leaked and reached the Brazilian Olympic Committee, her impeccable record allowed her to continue competing. However, the situation subjected her to a “painful public scrutiny.”
She was not alone in admitting that sexual relationships are common in the Olympic Village. To justify her actions, she reportedly mentioned the famous sprinter Usain Bolt, who was also involved in similar situations without receiving as much media attention.
“They distributed an impressive number of condoms in the Olympic Village. Were they for making balloons? Bolt brought a girl without credentials to his room, and many used Tinder. But those cases didn’t get leaked,” Oliveira remarked, frustrated by the injustice she experienced and still experiences to a lesser extent today.
The arrival of Celine Dion in Paris has sparked rumours that the Canadian singer who on account of health issues, has not performed for some time could be a surprise actress in Friday’s Opening Ceremony of Paris 2024.
Dion is one of the greatest international artists of recent decades. Her career has reached major milestones. She was already a star when she performed the theme song for the film Titanic, “My heart will go on”.
Following this, she became one of the most famous and world renowned artists.
But two years ago, she was diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS), a rare neurological disease. It was discovered in the middle of the 20th century, but since then, no cure has yet been found. Patients receive palliative treatments, but they are less effective when the disease progresses.
What SPS causes is involuntary muscle spasms. It affects Dion’s walking and singing. She recounted this in a documentary entitled “I am: Celine Dion”, released by Prime Video last June.
Anuoluwapo Opeyori whose appointment as the as the General Team Captain for Nigeria at the Paris 2024 Games sets a record as the first badminton player to lead the country at the Olympic Games continues his record-making spree.
His qualification for Paris 2024 has made him Nigeria’s first back-to-back badminton player at the Olympics. He is one of the 173 badminton players at Paris 2024. He featured at the delayed Tokyo 2020 and will thus made a back-to-back appearance.
Here in France, he told the Sports Village Square that he is elated to be named to captain Nigeria and gave his gratitude to the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) for the honour. “I see it as a higher call to service”, remarked the badminton player who is out to make history to become the best ever African badminton player at the Olympics.
Prior to now, he had told BBC that: “my target is to get to the quarter-final because once I’m able to win one game, I believe that will be a big upset for everyone and I should be able to achieve more than that.”
From being out to end Africa’s Olympic badminton jinx comes the additional pressure to meet his aspirations. “No sir”, there is no additional pressure. It is a higher call to service”, he told Sports Village Square.
“I assure you that Team Nigeria shall make great marks at these Games.” He remarked that the captainship has inspired him to be a role model to the athletes and youths of his generation.
“I am now compelled to be a leader and take care of the athletes’ welfare and lift their spirits. I am out to inspire them with the ‘can do’ spirit.
“We are moving from the realm of just participants to being strong competitors”, said Opeyori.
Only captains will be allowed to speak and discuss decisions with the referee during the Olympics, FIFA said on Wednesday following the rule’s first implementation at last month’s European Championship.
FIFA is encouraging the adoption of the measure by competition organisers globally after UEFA extended the new approach to all of their competitions in a bid to facilitate clearer communication.
“Without referees there is no football. Protecting match officials and ensuring they are treated with respect is fundamental for the future of the game,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said.
“Implementing measures such as ‘captain only’ is crucial in maintaining the spirit of football and safeguarding those who uphold its laws.”
The world soccer governing body added they will continue to monitor the impact of the “captain only” rule.
“This is an important step based on the overarching idea of further enhancing fairness and respect in football while enabling an open line of dialogue between the referee and the teams,” chairman of the FIFA referees committee Pierluigi Collina said.
“As we have seen in the past, measures that are in defence of football end up being accepted.”
The Olympic soccer tournament kicked off on Wednesday with Spain taking on Uzbekistan at Paris’ Parc des Princes while Argentina faced Morocco in Saint-Etienne.
As the official draw for the table tennis competitions of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games takes place this Wednesday Nigeria’s trio of Olajide Omotayo, Offiong Edem, and Fatimo Bello will know their first-round opponents when the event kicks off on July 27 at South Paris Arena.
A total of 172 players, (86 in men’s and 86 in women’s category), will compete across five medal events (two per gender and a mixed) at the Paris Olympic Games, while Omotayo who will be making his second appearance at the games will start his campaign from the Preliminary Rounds of the Men’s Singles.
Like Omotayo, Edem who is making her fifth Olympic Games appearance as well as debutant Bello will also start their participation in the Preliminary Rounds of the Men’s Singles.
As one of the top 16 seeds, Quadri Aruna will commence his fifth Olympic Games campaign from Round of 64 which will commence on July 28.
Aruna, whose best outing at the Olympic Games was at Rio 2016 in Brazil where he defied odds to reach the quarterfinal of the Men’s Singles as the first African to attain the height.
However, Egypt’s Omar Assar equalled Aruna’s quarterfinal feat at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020 when the 2023 African Games champion worked his way into the last eight of the Men’s Singles in Japan.
Apart from Aruna and Assar who are among the top 16 seeds, other Africans like Egypt’s trio of Dina Meshref, Hana Goda, and Mohamed El-Beiali as well as Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw, Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou, Algeria’s duo of Mehdi Bouloussa and Lyna Loghraibi including history-making 21-year-old Fabio Rakotoarimanana of Madagascar will all begin their quest from the Preliminary Rounds of the Men’s and Women’s Singles on July 27.
Meanwhile, 35-year-old Chinese legend Ma Long, who is considered the undisputed king of table tennis, prepares for what could be his final Olympic hurrah in Paris.
With five Olympic gold medals, the most of any player, Ma Long’s legacy is already cemented.
His journey to the top began in 2012 when he secured his first Olympic gold as part of China’s dominant Men’s Team. Four years later, in Rio 2016, Ma Long’s legend truly ignited. He displayed a mastery of the racket, showcasing both offensive prowess and tactical brilliance as he clinched his first Men’s Singles gold medal. This victory cemented his place as a top contender and a force to be reckoned with on the world stage.
Tokyo 2020 wasn’t just another year for Ma Long. He defied expectations and accomplished the unthinkable – defending his Men’s Singles title. This historic feat had never been achieved before, solidifying him as an Olympic legend. Ma Long also secured a team gold, adding another chapter to his already impressive Olympic resumé. His haul of five Olympic gold medals, combined with three singles world titles and the record for the longest reign at number one in the world rankings, leaves no doubt that Ma Long is the undisputed greatest table tennis player in history. Now, in Paris, Ma Long sets his sights on potentially adding another team gold to his collection.
