South Sudan with no indoor practice sessions make history at Paris Olympics

Just about a week ago, the newest country in the world almost beat the mighty and star-studded Team USA. Today, they played in their first-ever Olympics. If going by their performance against the Americans, there was some hope that they would perform well. South Sudan decided to do one better as they created history for African basketball at the Paris Olympics 2024 today.

In their first game against Puerto Rico, the SSDs were down at the halfway mark. Then they started a third-quarter charge coupled with great defense to turn the tide. Despite a heroic effort from Puerto Rico and NBA star Jose Alvarado, the South Sudanese managed to win their first-ever Olympics basketball game. It also happens that they became the first African nation to win an Olympics basketball game in any format.

For a country which was formed only 13 years ago, it is a remarkable achievement. That too, when considering that they do not have any indoor courts in the entire country. Head of the basketball program, former NBA All-Star Luol Deng is investing his own money to build a new indoor court.

But it seems the South Sudanese did not want to wait until that happened. They wanted to see their names etched in history today, and that explains how they went on a motivated rally to upstage Puerto Rico. It seemed as if they were on a mission.

With the likes of 17-year-old Duke commit Khaman Maluach in the offing, it would not be long before they can grip their hold on basketball supremacy. For a team that came close to beating Team USA, all the congratulatory messages pouring in seemed justified.

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Paris Olympics committee make a blunder again with South Sudan

If only the Paris Olympics 2024 committee knew the significance of the moment. They would not have made such a blatant error. After the game was over, they were supposed to play the winning team’s national anthem. But instead of playing South Sudan’s anthem, they played neighboring Sudan’s one.

The error was caught by South Sudanese fans. After all, they know better than anyone which one is right. This is another in the long line of mistakes the Paris Olympics committee has committed so far. The least they could have done, is figure out the correct one and play it. After all, such a historic achievement will not come the second time.

The organizers need to get their act together and stop making such mistakes. A large and powerful nation might not be forgiving. They would certainly not like it if their nation is not represented properly.

In case you missed:

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