Sport Highlights from Around The Continent

2021 has taken off with a bang for many African sports stars after a dismal 2020 placed a damper on training and competitor events with the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic worldwide. February has been particularly sweet for Egypt's Al Ahly soccer club, coming third in the Club World Cup in Qatar. Nigeria's sweetheart, athlete Blessing Okagbare has been entered into the Guinness Book of Records for the most appearances - 67 - at the IAAF Diamond League meetings. The Super Falcons, Nigeria's senior women's soccer team are currently participating in the Turkish Women's World Cup where they have just beaten CSK Moscow 1-0. They have also signed new coach Randy Waldrum. In March 2021, the World Table Tennis champs will take off in Qatar and Nigeria's Aruna Quadri and Olajide Omotayo will be among the top African stars listed for the first official events. Still jumping through hoops is Nigeria's basketball champs d'Tigers who have qualified for the FIBA Afrobasket 2021. While all eyes are turning to the Tokyo Olympics which, if it goes ahead as planned, will see several athletes hoping to participate, including Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare, Divine Oduduru and Ese Brume. Covid-19, however, may still shed some doubt on the Games that prides itself on Equality as one of its values. There is talk that unequal vaccine rollouts could impact participation by some.