Tag: African sportsmen in America

Meet Nnamdi Ezenwa: The Nigerian-American Valedictorian At Thurgood Marshall Law School Class of 2020

By Brittany Ireland | HBCUBUZZ

Congratulations are in order for Nnamdi Ezenwa. For the first time in 13 years, the highest performing person in the graduating class at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University is a Black man.

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Aliphine Tuliamuk: Kenyan-Born American marathoner Talks About What She Learnt From Eliud Kipchoge

The Kenyan- born American marathoner shares how she is staying strong in hope and in wait of a fall marathon, and how Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge has been her great source of inspiration.

By Evelyn Watta | The Olympic Channel

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Michael Jordan vs. Hakeem Olajuwon: Breaking down the Bulls-Rockets NBA Finals we never got to see

byย Sam Quinn | CBS Sports

As Netflix airs Micheal Jordan’s “Last Dance” interest has increased in the NBA teams and stars of the 1990s. Contrary to popular belief, the NBA did, in fact, go on after Michael Jordan’s first retirement in 1993. Nearly two full seasons were played without him, and both of them crowned champions that weren’t theย Bulls. History may remember the decade belonging entirely to Chicago, but a mini-dynasty was born immediately after their decline as theย Houston Rockets, led by the Nigerian Hakeem Olawujon, snagged back-to-back championships in 1994 and 1995.ย 

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Cameroonian Francis Ngannou Scores 20-Second Knockout Win At UFC 249

By Michael Corry | Pundit Arena

Cameroonian UFC fighter Francis Ngannou scored a petrifying 20-second knockout win over Jairzinho Rozenstruik in front of an almost empty arena at UFC 249 in Jacksonville, Florida.

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Ghanaian soccer sensation Edward Opoku undergoes successful surgery in USA

By Kickgh

The talented Ghanaian soccer sensation Edward Opoku has undergone a successful surgery in the United States of America (USA). The youth forward announced in a Facebook post that he has undergone a foot surgery .

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Tunmise Adeleye: How Nigerian connection was the driving force in recruitment top-tier defensive end

Ohio State University added to its already-special 2021 recruiting class by landing the commitment of four-star strongside defensive end Tunmise Adeleye of the IMG (Fla.) Academy. Adeleye is one of the elite talents in the country at his position. Ohio State University have their large Nigerian community to thank for his recruitment.

By Zack Carpenter | Eleven Warriors

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Nayel Nasser: the Egyptian-American Equestrian show jumper who is getting married to Bill Gates daughter, Jennifer.

by Ebimo Amungo

In 1997, the world was stunned when it was announced that Lady Diana, the Princess of Wales, was dating Dodi Fayed, an Egyptian and was set to marry him. On 29 January 2020, another Egyptian made international headlines when Jennifer Gates, the eldest daughter of the billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates,  announced that she is set to marry, Nayel Nasser, the Equestrian show-jumper who recently helped Egypt to qualify for the Olympics.

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Spencer Dinwiddie of the Brooklyn Nets is set to play for Nigeria in the Olympics

By david keithย | Go Tech Daily

While Spencer Dinwiddie of the Brooklyn Nets has worked well with major league stars, it wasnโ€™t enough to invite him to Team USA for the Tokyo Olympic. However, this 27-year-old didnโ€™t stop from doing anything else to learn how to make basketball in games.According to a letter from Shams Charania of The Athletic, Dinwiddie obtained a Nigerian passport for him to play for Nigeria.

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Kenyan-born Olympic hopeful, Sally Kipyego is Training and waiting for a Fall Marathon

Byย SARAH LORGE BUTLER | RUNNERS WORLD

With her third-place finish at the American ย Olympic Marathon Trials, Sally Kipyego secured her second trip to the Games. Her first was in 2012, when she was a citizen of Kenya, and she won the silver medal in the 10,000 meters. Kipyego, who was a nine-time NCAA champion at Texas Tech University, became an American citizen in 2017 after living for 15 years in the U.S.

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Kenyan Koranga set to write history in US Collegiate basketball

By PHILIP ONYANGO | Daily Nation

Felmas Koranga is set to become the first player from Kenya to play in the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division One League in America after signing for Troy University. Koranga, was named the 2020 Women Basketball College Association (WBCA) Player of the Year in the just concluded National Junior Collegiate Athletics Association (NJCAA) League where she played for Tyler College.

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USAโ€™s Olympic marathon team has three Africans

BY ERYN MATHEWSON | THE UNDEFEATED

Aliphine Tuliamuk, Sally Kipyego and Abdihakem โ€œAbdiโ€ Abdirahman, three of the six runners who make up the the U.S. Olympic marathon team All three runners are African-born American citizens and vary in how they identify: American, African American, Kenyan or Somali American, black. But they all agree on the title: marathoner.

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Azubuike and Dotson Named 2020 Wooden Award All-Americans

Nigerian-Born Kansas University senior Udoka Azubuike and sophomore Devon Dotson were each named to the 10-member 2020 Menโ€™s Wooden Award All-American Team, the Los Angeles Athletics Club announced Wednesday. Additionally, Azubuike was named one of five finalists for the 2020 Wooden Award. The menโ€™s and womenโ€™s Wooden Award All-American teams were selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board.

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Ex-Kenyan Hockey Star to Play for U.S. in Masters World Cup

Former Kenyan International Raquel Otieno hopes that her selection in the team that will represent United States of America in this year’s Masters Hockey World Cup will inspire upcoming players back home. Otieno, who holds a dual citizenship, made the squad that will compete in the World Cup which features women over 45 years.

The competition will take place in Cape Town, South Africa from September 19 to 28.

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A Nigerian football player’s journey to U.S. citizenship

By DESTINI AMBUS

Prince Michael Sammons finds strength through God and comfort in family. Sammons, an offensive lineman for the Auburn Tigers and native of Nigeria, received his American citizenship earlier this semester. It was a long process for Sammons to get to America, but it was even longer for him to gain his citizenship.

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Nigerian Immigrant Eloquently Explains Why Heโ€™s the โ€˜Real Americanโ€™ After Breaking MAGA UFC Fighterโ€™s Jaw

Could this fight and subsequent interview have been the moment Donald Trump took a deep dislike of Nigerian immigrants?

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Basketball Africa League reveals teams; Hennessy activates NBA partnership

By Jabari Young

The Basketball Africa League is set after the 12 teams that will participate in the inaugural season next month were announced during the National Basketball Associationโ€™s 2020 All-Star Weekend in Chicago.

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Africans in the Bronx Find Family on the Soccer Field

One day nine years ago, Abrourazakou Bawa, a truck driver originally from Togo, was in his home borough of the Bronx when he noticed a disappointed kid walking with a soccer ball under his arm.

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Greg Josephโ€™s influence on South Africaโ€™s love for American football

South Africa’s Love for American football is Growing due the exploits of theย Tennessee Titansย  kicker Greg Joseph

 By The Spread  

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Africans in Sports team visit Nigerian- American basketballer Victor Oladipo

The Africans in Sports team traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana to sit down with All-Star Nigerian basketball player Victor Oladipo to learn how his Nigerian roots impact his NBA Career.

Read from source Africans In Sports

Nigerian-American, Nneka Ogwumike, helps USA Womenโ€™s National Team Defeats Nigeria 76-71

Nigerian-American, Nneka Ogwumike, was voted Most Valuable Player after helping the USA women basket ball team secure a win over her native country.

It took nearly all 40 minutes for the 2020 USA Basketball Womenโ€™s National Team (3-0, 17-1) to earn its 76-71 victory over Nigeria (1-2) in the final game at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament on Sunday night in Belgrade, Serbia.

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Derrick Nnadi taps into wisdom and drive of his true hero, his Nigerian-born father

Derrick Nnadi has been in the news recently for two reasons- He was part of the Kansas City Chiefs team that won the Super Bowl. He also sponsored the adoption of 109 dogs to celebrate the win. Derrick Nnadi has always had one hero. His Nigerian-born father.

By Nate Taylor 

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โ€˜Iโ€™ve always loved dogsโ€™ says Chiefsโ€™ Derrick Nnadi as he hands over check to sponsor 109 dog adoptions after Super Bowl win

By Rebecca Gannon

Nigerian-American Derrick Nnadi set the internet on fire this week after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl for what he did off the field: he sponsored the adoptions of every dog who was at the KC Pet Project before the game.

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Nigerian-American Derrick Nnadi pays adoption fees for every single dog from a Kansas City shelter after winning the Super Bowl

By Scottie Andrew and Francisco Guzman. CNN

Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle, Nigerian-born Derrick Nnadi vowed to pay the adoption fees for more than 100 dogs if his team won the Super Bowl. The Chiefs won. And Nnadi made good on his promise.
Now, thanks to his generosity, every kennel at one of KC Pet Project’s animal shelters is empty.

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Oklahoma University men’s basketball: Kur Kuath’s journey from Sudan to America makes playing for Sooners a ‘blessing’

by ABBY BITTERMAN

Before Kur Kuath turned 2 years old, his family was homeless and forced to live in a Catholic church in Egypt.

Civil war had ripped apart his native Sudan. His family found itself in the midst of a year-plus-long journey that would take them thousands of miles to a new life in America.

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CROSS COUNTRY: LOMONG BROTHERS RUN TO BETTER LIFE IN U.S.

By Marcus Horton

At the Big Ten Cross Country Championships in 2018, then-junior Ohio State cross country runner Alex Lomong ran the third-fastest outdoor 800-meter time in program history.

Nearly three decades earlier, his brother Lopez Lomong ran for his life, escaping entrapment as a child soldier in South Sudan during the Second Sudanese Civil War.

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The Nigerian-American Nightmare: The remarkable story of Kamaru Usmanโ€™s father

BY JOSEPH MAYALL

Kamaru Usman inside the UFC Octagon
No stranger to variety, the podcast of UFC commentator Joe Rogan, The Joe Rogan Experience, has been the launchpad for countless remarkable stories that span a gamut of topics from bowhunting, to artificial intelligence, to zany conspiracy theories, and everything in between.

One of the podcastโ€™s more fascinating discussions was provided by UFC welterweight champion Kamaru โ€œThe Nigerian Nightmareโ€ Usman: during his appearance on the show, Usman made it known that his father, Muhammed Usman, was serving a 15-year sentence in a federal penitentiary for crimes Kamaru believes his father didnโ€™t commit.

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Kenyaโ€™s Brigid Kosgei Breaks Marathon World Record in Chicago

A record that seemed untouchable for years fell in 2:14:04. The run whacked 81 seconds off the previous womenโ€™s mark.ย 


By Matthew Futterman and Talya Minsberg

This city lived up to its billing as host of Americaโ€™s fastest major marathon on Sunday as Brigid Kosgei of Kenya set a womenโ€™s world record.

A day after Eliud Kipchogeย broke the two-hour barrierย for the 26.2-mile distance, albeit in an event that did not count as a world record, his countrywoman Kosgei shattered Paula Radcliffeโ€™s world marathon record, which no woman had come close to in the past 16 years.

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Israel Adesanya: โ€˜Once the Nigerians pull up โ€ฆ itโ€™s gonna be over for a lot of years in the MMA worldโ€™

Inside the strong and growing bond between the top Nigerian fighters in UFC

BY DORIC SAM


Israel Adesanya had never met Sodiq Yusuff despite the fact that both fighters hail from Lagos, Nigeria. But Adesanya, who has lived in New Zealand since he was 11, had the good fortune of making the four-hour trip to Australia in December to watch Fight Night 142: Adelaide, where Yusuff would be making his UFC debut.

Continue reading “Israel Adesanya: โ€˜Once the Nigerians pull up โ€ฆ itโ€™s gonna be over for a lot of years in the MMA worldโ€™”

South African swimmer Ali Basel takes on senior year at Iowa State

By Megan Teske

Ali Basel came to the United States from South Africa without her parents and overcame shoulder surgery her sophomore year. Now a senior, Basel is looking to help lead her team in what she calls a “comeback season.”

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Kenyan wins 2019 Montreal Marathon after race starts with 50-minute delay

Boniface Kongin of Kenya won the Montreal marathon on Sunday, finishing the 42-kilometre race in two hours, 15 minutes and 18 seconds. He beat Mohamed Aagab of Morocco (2:19:43) and fellow Kenyan Isaac Maiyo (2:23:17) to the finish line at Place des Arts.

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