(photo) Nigeria come 78th on Rio Olympics medal table, after getting one medal

Team Nigeria has been placed 78th in the rankings published by the organizing committee of Rio 2016 Olympic games. USA is first with 46 Gold, Great Britain second with 27 Gold while China is third with 26 Gold.

 

USA won a total of 121 medals, while Usain Bolt's Jamaica came 16th after winning 6 Gold medals, 3 Silver medals and 2 Bronze medals. Kenya is the highest placed African team after winning 6 Gold medals, 6 Silver medals and 1 Bronze medal.

Olympics: Neymar crowned samba king as Farah sealed ‘double-double’

Neymar sent Brazil into ecstasy as he clinched Olympic football gold and Mo Farah sealed a rare distance double-double in a pulsating final evening of track action in Rio on Saturday.

Neymar swept home a brilliant free-kick and scored a trademark stutter-run penalty to win a shoot-out against Germany as the hosts headed towards Sunday’s closing ceremony on a high.

Later, Britain’s Farah headlined the last night of track and field as he won a thrilling 5,000m race to earn the first consecutive 5,000m-10,000m doubles in 40 years.

Matt Centrowitz produced the biggest upset when he beat defending champion Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria to become America’s first 1,500m champion in more than a century.

And the United States ran away with both the men’s and women’s 4x400m relays as the curtain closed on the last full day of competition, with only 12 gold medals available on Sunday.

With 294 of 306 titles decided, the United States led the medals table with 43 golds, with Britain in surprise second place with 27 to China’s 26.

China won their third Olympic Games women’s volleyball gold with a 3-1 victory over Serbia. Only the former Soviet Union — with four golds — has been more successful in Olympics women’s volleyball than China.

South Korea’s Park In-Bee won the first women’s golf Olympic gold in 116 years by a commanding five strokes, and the USA routed Spain in the women’s basketball final.

Millions of Brazilians were glued to the men’s football and celebrations were long and loud when the five-time world champions grabbed their first Olympic title at the Maracana stadium.

Victory, 5-4 on penalties after the scores were locked at 1-1 after extra time, left Neymar and his team-mates sobbing uncontrollably as they erased the nightmare of Brazil’s 7-1 World Cup semi-final defeat to Germany two years ago.

It was a fairytale finish for Neymar, who missed the 2014 defeat with a back injury and faced heavy criticism for his performances early in the Olympic competition.

“This is one of the best things that has happened in my life,” said the Barcelona star who promptly stepped down as captain.

“Now (the critics will) have to swallow what they said.”

Women’s 4x100m: USA Granted Re-run after Obstruction

USA’s women’s 4x100m relay team has been granted a re-run at the Olympic Stadium here in Rio after being obstructed in the earlier race this morning.

The solo re-run will take place at 11:00pm Nigerian time (7.00pm here in Brazil), with the composition and running order of the team to remain the same. USA will have the opportunity to qualify by time, with 42.7 seconds the time to beat.

According to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) statement, the USA team will be given the opportunity to run once again following the disqualification of Brazil for obstruction.

Television pictures appeared to a show a collision between Brazil and the USA moments before the second exchange.
Allyson Felix and her teammate, English Gardener lost hold of the baton and stood in amazement before Gardener picked it up and USA finished out of the qualification places.

“I think I got propelled at about 20 miles an hour,” Felix said afterwards. “It’s going to mess up the momentum and the handover.”

Rio Olympics: Neymar leads Brazil into men’s soccer semifinals

Neymar

 

Neymar scored his first goal of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Saturday, giving Brazil a 2-0 win over Colombia and a spot in the semifinals of the men’s soccer tournament.

Neymar scored from a free kick in the 12th minute, sending a right-footed shot through the wall and into the lower right corner of the net. Luan added the second in the 83rd at the Arena Corinthians with a shot from outside the area, keeping alive Brazil’s hopes of winning the soccer gold medal for the first time.

The game, a sort of rematch from the 2014 World Cup quarterfinals, was heated from the start, with hard fouls from both teams. The benches cleared just before halftime after a vicious foul committed by Neymar, who lashed out after being harassed by opponents nearly every time he touched the ball.

“They really came playing hard, but we were able to overcome the pressure,” Brazil forward Luan said. “We were able to get the early goal and that helped us come away with a great victory.”

Brazil will next face Honduras, which reached the Olympic semifinals for the first time by defeating South Korea 1-0 at the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte.

In the other semifinal match, 1996 Olympic champion Nigeria will face Germany, which is playing at the Olympic tournament for the first time since 1988 — when Jurgen Klinsmann was in the squad. Germany routed Portugal 4-0 in Brasilia, while Nigeria beat Denmark 2-0 in Salvador.

Rio Olympics: Nigeria to play Germany in semi-finals

Mikel Obi

Team Nigeria captain Mikel Obi scored a goal and set up Aminu Umar as Nigeria’s U-23 national team on Saturday night defeated Denmark 2-0 in Salvador to reach the semi-finals of the men’s football event of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Nigeria will now play Germany, who defeated Portugal 4-0, in the semi-final on Wednesday in Sao Paulo.

The U-23 team, the 1996 football champions of the Games, set up a clash with the Europeans, who were beaten 4-0 by Brazil in their final Group A game. Group B leaders Nigeria had defeated Japan and Sweden 5-4 and 1-0 respectively, before losing their final Group B game to Colombia 2-0.

It was a revenge of sorts for the African champions, who were thrashed 6-2 by the Danes at the Suwon Invitational tournament in South Korea in June.

Coach Samson Siasia brought on Aminu Umar for the injured Oghenekaro Etebo, while South Africa-based goalkeeper, who kept in the defeat to Colombia, also returned to the bench as Emmanuel Daniel retained his place back in the starting line-up.

Denmark had rattled the Nigerians as early as the 11th minute when Kasper Nielsson’s ferocious volley crashed against the woodwork with goalkeeper Emmanuel Daniel beaten.

But the 1996 Olympic champions stunned their European counterparts just four minutes later with Mikel grabbing the opener after good work by the dangerous Imoh Ezekiel.

Nigeria’s preparations in Atlanta as well as their participation at the Games have been trailed by controversies, with the squad arriving in Manaus from just six hours before their opener against Japan, after being stranded for days in the US.

The team skipped training on Thursday and threatened to boycott the game against Denmark on unless they were paid their outstanding allowances at the Games, as well as the unpaid five months salaries and allowances of the coaches.

They were paid their allowances before the game on Saturday.