By Ian Thomsen

Published: August 20, 1994

BRUSSELS— The sprinter Dennis Mitchell was permitted to go on earning his living here Friday at the expense of his Nigerian rival, who according to witnesses was kicked in the head by Mitchell while brawling early Thursday morning with the American and his brother.

Mitchell showed up for work here in a fluorescent outfit the color of a spotlight. He had little trouble finishing second in 10.12 seconds to Linford Christie, the winner of the Grand Prix Memorial Van Damme in 10.03.

It might have been tougher if not for the absence of Olapade Adeniken, who had gone home to Austin, Texas, with two stitches over his eye and a mild concussion. On Wednesday night in Zurich, four hours before suffering those injuries, he had beaten Mitchell to third place by one one-hundredth of a second in the season's most crucial sprint.

Mitchell, whose best time of 9.94 is second only to Leroy Burrell's world record of 9.85 this year, was declining to give his side of the story Friday on advice of his attorney, according to Coach John Smith.

If two athletes can fight in front of 40 or 50 colleagues in the official hotel lobby of the world's largest Grand Prix meet - and one goes on to race the next day against a weakened field without fear of punishment - then what's to stop it from happening again?

Christie was asked about Adeniken's injuries and he said, "I'm glad it wasn't me."

It was the first brawl in memory involving two world-class athletic rivals.

Adeniken's agent, Mark Block, said that although he might have recovered enough to compete here, Adeniken had flown home in order to defuse the situation. "He's been running so well lately, we didn't want to take any chances," Block said.

Adeniken and Mitchell face possible suspensions from the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) for bringing the sport into disrepute.

"I will investigate what happened that evening," said Sandro Giovanelli, director of competitions for the IAAF, "but I consider it a personal matter, a private matter, between the two individuals involved. In these cases it's up to the meet organizers to take action."

He will look into it, he was saying, but he couldn't care less. The Brussels meet director, Wilfried Meert, whose event was robbed of a 9.95-second sprinter because he had been beaten up by a rival clan, admitted Thursday that he was powerless to take action against Mitchell.

"It has nothing to do with what people do in their private lives," Giovanelli said. "What concerns us is only what they do or fail to do in the stadiums."

According to several witnesses, the fight started after Mitchell approached Adeniken in the lobby of the Hotel Nova Park at 2 A.M. Thursday to demand an apology. Adeniken asked why, and Mitchell reminded him of their tiff a few days earlier at the airport in North Carolina, after Mitchell's 100-meters victory over Adeniken at the Pan Africa-USA meet.

At the airport, the two sprinters allegedly had to be separated after Mitchell accused Adeniken of speaking badly to Mitchell's mother and girlfriend while in line at the check- in counter. Adeniken has denied criticizing them.

Now, in the hotel lobby, Mitchell was arguing with the larger Adeniken, who is a master of karate. With Mitchell were his brother Tony and his masseuse.

The eyewitness accounts are condensed to the following version:

Adeniken turned his back to walk away, and Mitchell reportedly pushed him down. Several people jumped in to break up the fight, with Adeniken head- butting Tony Mitchell, opening a cut in Mitchell's head. Eventually the powerful American hurdler Roger Kingdom, acting as peacemaker, pinned Adeniken to the ground.

A hotel security guard had subdued Mitchell's masseuse with a choke hold when the American sprinter Jon Drummond, who trains with Mitchell, pulled the security guard away. It is possible that Drummond didn't realize the man was a security guard.

Then Mitchell broke free, ran around the pile of squirming bodies, and reportedly kicked Adeniken in the head.

The rest was like a martial arts movie. Adeniken, woozy and bleeding down his face, was allowed to stand up. With three karate kicks he took out Mitchell's brother, the masseuse - who crashed against the wall with a kick to the chest - and Dennis Mitchell, who left the lobby bleeding from the nose or mouth. Adeniken was then taken to the hospital.

Mitchell has been known for his short temper. He appeared to be reaching his peak this summer - only to have the spotlight turned upon his fellow American when Burrell broke the world record six weeks ago in Lausanne. Burrell has told friends that the next time he raced against Mitchell in Lille, France, Mitchell tried to pick a fight with him.

After Burrell had won in Lille, Mitchell reportedly confronted him, saying, "This is not a boxing match." He accused Burrell of hitting him. Burrell denied it but Mitchell persisted, saying, "You hit me, bitch." Burrell says he turned away, saying, "You aren't anything," or words to that effect.

Block was denying rumors Friday that Adeniken would seek legal action against Mitchell.

The two sprinters had been brought together Thursday by the Zurich meet director and, in effect, were made to shake hands like a couple of schoolboys after a recess brawl.

In the meantime, Adeniken's fellow Nigerian sprinters - Davidson Ezinwa and Daniel Effiong, both having run under 10 seconds this year - were said to be seeking revenge against Mitchell.

"Dennis had better watch his back," one world-class sprinter said. "Contrary to appearances, there are a lot of little things that can be done to hurt someone in the sprints - a little bumping, a little shove. Maybe it would happen in the World Championships or Olympics."

But then, it is only a personal matter.

naptu2:

He moved to Portugal at the age of 16 and tried to play for Sporting Lisbon and Benfica football clubs, but he was rejected by both clubs.

He won gold in both the 100m and 200m at the World Junior Championships in Sydney in 1996. He also won silver in the 4x100m at the World Athletics Championships in Athens in 1997 and won bronze in the 200m at the 1999 World Championships in Seville. He won the 200m at the 1999 All Africa Games in Johannesburg.

Defection

Obikwelu got injured at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, but the nigerian authorities did not pay for his treatment, despite the fact that he got injured while representing the country (he had to pay for his treatment in Canada). He became a portuguese citizen and represented Portugal at athletics competitions.

Mustay:


Naptu2 the researcher, do you have a compilation of athletes interviewed in Rio 2016 There was one common denominator - lack of support. Very soon, aside those who fail to qualify for the games, those who will represent us I future tournaments are those abroad who decide to pity their country and represent her. Our basketball team is an example and I notice the increasing number of 'Oyinbo' Nigerians who have better facilities to make use of.

It is interesting that the same Portugal that 'rejected' Obikwelu accepted him to win Bronze (I think) at Athens 2004. These are countries that value athletes. I learnt that the present athletes at Rio 2016 may be 'stranded' in Brazil since their flight was scheduled for September but they have to leave the Olympics Camp.

Anyway, Sydney 2000 signaled the end of the golden age IMO - Obikwelu and Alozie gave us the signs for us to take note of. Our relay team finally got their medal back from USA and Deji tried his best. Nigerian authorities will continue to neglect our athletes to the detriment of our growth. Corruption is not just about stealing, it's also about diversion of funds for other purposes other than intended. The effects bite us in all sector. The Paralympians and their experiences is another sad tale to tell despite their consistency in putting Nigeria on the medals table

naptu2:

The AFN has been going round the world in search of [b]foreigners [/b]that cannot make it into their own national team. They want to poach these athletes and get them to run for Nigeria. So they are going to get foreigners who cannot run sub-10 to run for us.

ThunderingHooves:
Some of these names roll off my tongue with ease: Mary Onyali, Ogunkoya Falilat, Chidi Imoh, Egbunike Innocent..... I had the privilege of seeing them in the flesh. As a young boy in Nairobi, my mind was occupied by many interests, not least running /athletics, seeing as we were a preeminent nation in that sport and as the hosts i took full advantage and went to see them run. So i took off with my elder sister and cousin since we all shared a keen interest in sports, to the stadium to go see them run. ( My deskmate and one of my sisters were among the kids doing the Opening ceremony gymnastics and had free entry, so they snuck us in... lol! ).
I thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle of athletes from every corner of Africa converging in one space to either out run each other or kick a piece of leather into the back of a net, or through a hoop as many times as possible. I also knew who the main rivals were and i think the 400 finals for men was the most epic one in athletics. And the unthinkable happened when an Ethiopian won the marathon in Nairobi : for us losing to our greatest rivals and neighbors in a distance event at home was the ultimate shame.!!!

Please go on @naptu2

naptu2:
Here he is almost 30 years later.



The story of Abass Mohammed

Abass Mohammed is the Nigerian record holder in the marathon and champion of the Milo Marathon for most of the 1980s and early 1990s (the Milo Marathon was run between c1984-c1994). The only person who could come close to him was Yohanna Waziri.

Mohammed was a soldier from the highlands of Jos. I think that the Nigerian Army promoted him at some point because of his exploits in the marathon.

The route of the Milo Marathon was from The National Stadium → Western Avenue → Eko Bridge → Marina → Awolowo Road → Kingsway Road → Osborne Road → Third Mainland Bridge → Herbert Macaulay Road → Empire → Western Avenue and back to the National Stadium. I often watched them as they ran down Awolowo Road.

Then came the 1989 African Athletics Championship which was held in Lagos. The Nigerian media expected that Abass Mohammed would do very well in the marathon because he was familiar with the course (the route was almost the same as the Milo Marathon route) and he would have home support.

The race was shown on NTA Sports on a Saturday. An Ethiopian runner sprinted away from the pack as soon as the runners left the National Stadium and Abass Mohammed chased him. This Ethiopian and Abass Mohammed led the way all the way from the National Stadium to Lagos Island. The Ethiopian eased off somewhere on the Island (I think it was on Awolowo Road) and a second Ethiopian took his place. Abass Mohammed also chased this Ethiopian. The second Ethiopian and Abass Mohammed swapped first position a couple of times on the Island. There was a smaller group of runners behind the two of them, while the rest of the field was further back.

The runners left the Island with Abass Mohammed and the second Ethiopian still leading the pack. It was the same as the athletes ran through Yaba and back on to Western Avenue. Then a third Ethiopian sprinted into the lead. He ran as if he was running a hundred metres race. He kept widening the gap between himself and the other athletes as they got closer to the National Stadium. Abass Mohammed was exhausted by this time and he slipped further back into 4th position.

Ethiopians came first, second and third. Abass Mohammed was either 5th or 6th and Yohanna Waziri was even further back.

The Nigerian media swarmed round Abass Mohammed at the finish line. "What happened?" "Everyone expected you to win, but you came 6th, what do you want to tell your fans?"

Then Abass Mohammed said, "They tie my leg. It's from my village. They tie my leg in my village".

My sister and I almost died of laughter.

naptu2:
I've finally gotten the names of the Ethiopians that taught Abass Mohammed a lesson in 1989. I knew that one of them was called Gebrselassie and I assumed that it was the great Haile Gebrselassie, but it's not.

I finally got their names and times courtesy of Wikipedia.

1) Tsegaye Sengni 2:26:26

2) Kebede Balcha 2:26:35

3) Tekla Gebrselassie 2:26:55

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_African_Championships_in_Athletics

Mustay:


Please who are these foreigners I want to believe these are Nigerians of mixed race or Nigerians who grew up in these foreign countries. The move is beyond ridiculous.