Sonny Side of Sports - VOA Africa

Let's give a Sonny Side of Sports birthday salute to Morocco's 1984 Olympic champion Said Aouita, who was born on November 2, 1959.

On Tuesday's show, Sonny recognizes Aouita as the only athlete in history to have won Olympic medals at both 800m and 5,000m. Aouita won gold at 5,000m at the 1984 Los Angeles Games and he won a bronze medal at 800m at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Also on the program, Sonny will have news about 2021 Olympic 5,000m champion Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, plus much more.

We kick off with football, where a plan by Nigeria to recall striker Odion Ighalo for this month's World Cup qualifying matches against Liberia and Cape Verde is proving controversial.

The 32-year-old Ighalo is based in Saudi Arabia with the club Al-Shabab. He retired from international football after the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Egypt.

Sports analyst Fisayo Dairo, tells "Iron Mike" Mbonye, it's a bad move to recall Ighalo.

On Friday's show, Sonny gives a "Sonny Side of Sports" salute for the Washington Wizards.

The Wizards are off to a good start early in this NBA season, winning four of their first five games.

On Thursday night, Washington's star guard Bradley Beal dunked over Atlanta's John Collins as the Wizards clipped the wings of the Hawks, 122-111.

Sonny will also have lots of African football news on the show, so tune in

Thursday's show packs some punch! Sonny will have a special segment on "The Rumble In The Jungle," the classic clash in Kinshasa between Muhammad Ali and then world heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman.

The fight in Africa has been described as one of the greatest sporting events of the 20th century, and Saturday (October 30th) marks its 47th anniversary.

There will be reflections from the late Hall of Fame trainer Angelo Dundee, who was in Ali's corner in Kinshasa; Sonny's former VOA colleague Ted Landphair; and music from Don Covay.

Thumbs Up, Carli! Let's give a Sonny Side of Sports salute to Carli Lloyd, one of the greatest players in women's soccer history.

Lloyd played her 316th and final match for the U.S. women's national soccer team Tuesday night when the USA beat South Korea, 6-0, in a friendly in St. Paul, Minnesota.

VOA's Gwen Outen will have a feature profile of Lloyd on Wednesday's show, and Sonny will have lots more football news.

Tuesday's show is topped by Patricia Apolot, a Ugandan female athlete nicknamed "The Black Pearl." She has been shining in recent years in the sport of kickboxing.

Apolot successfully defended her world title over the weekend in Cairo, Egypt.

Mugume Davis Rwakaringi will have a feature profile of the Ugandan kickboxer.

So get some audio kicks and tune in to the Sonny Side of Sports

Liverpool's hat trick hero Mohamed Salah gets top billing on Monday's show. Salah's three goals on Sunday sparked Liverpool to a 5-0 rout of Manchester United at Old Trafford.

In the process, the Egyptian football star became the highest-scoring African player in Premier League history with 107 career goals.

Prince Nesta will have a report on Salah's heroics, and Sonny will have lots more sports news.

The Africa Cup of Nations football trophy was on display this week in Malawi, one of 24 countries that will be represented at the tournament in Cameroon in January 2022.

Lameck Masina kicks off Friday's show with a feature from Blantyre, Malawi, on the trophy parade.

Also on the program, Yaw Ofosu Larbi and "Iron Mike" Mbonye will have African football reports, plus much more sports news.

"His leap, his timing - it was the perfect header." - Harry Maguire, describing teammate Cristiano Ronaldo's game-winning goal on Wednesday when Manchester United beat visiting Atalanta, 3-2.

On Thursday's show, Sonny will recap Ronaldo's heroics and other UEFA Champions League matches, as well as Wednesday's Africa Women's Cup of Nations qualifying games.Also, VOA's Gwen Outen will have a report on how the USA is bidding to host both the men's and women's Rugby World Cup tournaments in the next 10 years.