Tens of thousands of runners took part in the Madrid Marathon on Sunday (Apr. 28).

Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes were the ones who shone in both the men’s and women’s races.

Ethiopia’s started chasing a win not long after the start of the 42-kilometre course — extending his lead consistently.

However, he faltered in the last 7 kilometres — suffering from heat stroke and hamstring strain in his left thigh. Putting in a final effort, he won the second race of his career.

Mitku Tafa was closely followed by fellow Ethiopian Fikre Bekele, and Kenyan runner, Douglas Chebii, who came in third.

Tafa won the race in 2 hours – 8 minutes — and 58 seconds.

The 2023 Nairobi City Marathon champion Naom Jebet secured her first international marathon win in Madrid in the women’s race.

The runner was in the solo lead on the final stretch of her win as well, finishing with a time of two hours, 26 minutes and 20 seconds – 44 seconds faster than Ethiopia’s Bontu Bekele who finished second.

Fellow Ethiopian Kebene Chala finished in third place.

South Africans and boxing fans are remembering Dingaan Thobela, a boxing legend who passed away at 57.

Thobela, known as “The Rose of Soweto” where he grew up, died in his Johannesburg apartment after battling an undisclosed illness. He was found by family members who couldn’t reach him on the phone.

Thobela had a stellar career, competing from 1990 to 2006 and winning three world titles in two weight divisions. With 40 wins out of 56 fights, including 26 knockouts, he left a lasting mark on the sport.

Tributes poured in for Thobela, with many recalling his incredible speed, skill, and power in the ring. Advocate Ike Thamsanqa Khumalo reminisced about the memorable moments Thobela gave fans, describing some as comedic.

A third runner on the Refugee Olympic team has been suspended for a positive doping test, with the announcement coming two days before the IOC confirms its selection of athletes for the Paris Games.

Anjelina Nadai Lohalith was informed of her alleged use of banned heart medication, trimetazidine, and was provisionally suspended, the athletics integrity unit said. She did not give a timetable for disciplinary proceedings.

Lohalith, who fled war in South Sudan as a child and took refuge in a refugee camp in Kenya, was on a scholarship from the International Olympic Committee to prepare for her third consecutive Summer Games.

The 31-year-old ran the 1,500m for the Refugee team at the last two Summer Games, first competing in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

The IOC and UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, have planned a media event on Thursday to finalize the selection of the refugee team for the Paris Olympic Games which will be held from July 26 to August 11.

Lohalith represented the Refugee Team at three World Athletics Championships and was one of 29 members of the Refugee Olympic Team in Tokyo.

The UNHCR said 75 athletes in 14 sports received scholarships to Paris. These athletes come from 12 different countries and now live in 24 host countries.

A scholarship athlete from Morocco , 3,000m steeplechase runner Fouad Idbafdil , was banned for three years in December after testing positive for the endurance hormone EPO.

In March, another 1,500m runner from South Sudan, Dominic Lokolong Atiol , was also provisionally suspended for testing positive for trimetazidine.

The drug, known as TMZ, was also found in high-profile positive tests in 2021 by Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva and 23 Chinese swimmers who were preparing for the Tokyo Olympics.

Valieva’s case came to light during the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, where she helped the Russians win the team gold medal. Valieva was subsequently disqualified, suspended for four years, and the Russians were demoted to bronze swimmers, while the United States were promoted to gold swimmers. The case is ongoing and further appeals are pending.

The Chinese swimming affair was described in detail on April 20 in investigative reports from the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD.

The swimmers were not suspended, and three of them won gold medals in Tokyo, because the World Anti-Doping Agency accepted the explanations and evidence provided by Chinese authorities that the athletes had been contaminated with traces of the drug in a hotel kitchen.

Twenty-three-year-old Kevin Opia shares a passion for football with her twin brother Robert.

“He’s my biggest role model in this game. I look up to him,” she says.

She used to tag along with him and his mates whenever they would go to the local park for a kickabout. “I’d always just kind of watch them, and sometimes even join them if they’d let me.”

A primary school teacher helped Opia gain the confidence to step out of her brother’s shadow and join a team. “She basically trained me to be the best version I can be within the sport. “I started to see that people saw potential in me.”That made me really excited and really accepted.”

Opia was encouraged to focus more on her education rather than playing sports. “Whereas my brother, he kinda had that persistence to just keep pushing and go after his dreams.” “The mum would be happy for her to stay home, watch the kids, while the boys go out and kick the football. “It was just us supporting men, going down to watch our brothers, our uncles playing,” she says.

Ms Madua says she was inspired by the heroics of the Matildas at last year’s Women’s World Cup. She also met up at African restaurants with friends and family to watch Nigeria’s impressive run. For years, the annual African Cup NSW has brought the community together, with players representing their home country.

Ms Madua says it has been a struggle to gather enough players to field women’s sides, and when they did, they were often scheduled to play early in the morning.

She’s been appointed vice-president of Kama Umoja, a standalone soccer tournament for African women that kicks off in October.

“We’ve been doing this for so many years and our voices were in the background. “It’s one of the first women’s cups in NSW for women of colour, solely based just for us.”

It’s hoped the tournament will create discussions in the community about the benefits of sport. “Having those conversations is going to stem from the parents first.

“We’re able to speak to them in such a way that they understand that their daughters are just as great as the men.”

Opia will be representing her home nation South Sudan at Kama Umoja.

She played in the first women’s side at the African Cup and says there are now plenty more girls willing to sign up to play. “I want the girls to be in their own zone, in their own empowerment, and just have a great time,” she says.

“We’re all just trying to come together as one and play that sport that we all love.”