Africa aims to shine despite poaching of top talent

Lagos, August 3 -- Africa may have lost some of its finest athletes to richer competitors, but the continent's fans still believe the Olympics will see their teams improve on their nine-medal haul in Sydney.
Africa expects medals in athletics, football, boxing and weightlifting, despite seeing some of its best talent tempted away to Europe and the Middle East by money and better facilities.
Moroccan middle distance runner Hind Dehiba will compete for France in Athens, while Stephen Cherono changed his name to Saif Saeed Shaheen when he dumped Kenya for the pay-cheque offered by oil-rich Qatar.
Nigeria's top track stars Glory Alozie and Francis Obikwelu will be at the games sporting the colours of Spain and Portugal respectively.
"Yes, I moved for the money," admitted 21-year-old Shaheen, who will reportedly be paid a monthly stipend of 1,000 dollars by his adopted country for the rest of his life.
However, Kenya had the final say in the affair by refusing to give Shaheen permission to take part in Athens.
Besides the improved financial rewards these other countries offer, African athletes say they are often forced to seek better opportunities outside the continent due to lack of infrastructure and proper management back home.
"Previously, if you had asked me who I will be up against at the Olympics, I would have just said the Kenyans. But with several of them now moving over to countries like Bahrain and Qatar, it is now a little different," said Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopia's 10,000 metre Olympic champion.
But despite this talent drain, experts are expecting a strong African showing when this year's Games start on August 13.
Athletics will again be where Africa will shine the brightest, particularly in the middle and long distance races dominated by Kenyans, Ethiopians, Moroccans and Algerians.
Ethiopia's three-time world cross country champion Kenenisa Bekele is the latest star having smashed Gebrselassie's 5,000m and 10,000m world records in June.
Paul Tergat of Kenya is the world record holder in the marathon and odds-on favourite in Athens while Moroccan great Hicham El Guerrouj will aim for an elusive gold in the 1,500m.
Kenya's domination of the 3,000m steeplechase was underscored at the Sydney Olympics where Reuben Kosgei and Wilson Boit Kipketer won gold and silver.
Ethiopian women Derartu Tulu and Gete Wami remain favourites in the 10,000m after a 1-2 finish in Australia while both Nigerian men and women are expected to maintain their good standing in both the 4x100 and 4x400m relays.
In the high jump, South Africa boasts the men's world champion Jacques Freitag and women's champion Hestrie Cloete, who also won an Olympic silver four years ago.
The Algerian Abderrahmane Hammad gave warning that Africa is now a growing force in this event when he won the continent's first-ever men's high jump medal, a bronze, in Sydney.
African football teams have won the last two Olympic golds, but 1996 champions Nigeria and 2000 winners Cameroon failed to qualify for Athens, and the continent's hopes now rest on Morocco, Mali, Tunisia and Ghana.
Ghana Black Meteors won gold in Barcelona in 1992 and will line up 15 full internationals including skipper Stephen Appiah of Juventus and Lyon midfielder Michael Essien.
The experienced Portuguese coach Mariano Barreto has supervised a month-long training stint in his homeland and the team is widely tipped to get past a qualifying group that includes Paraguay, Japan and Italy.
The Tunisians, in a first round group with Argentina, Serbia-Montenegro and Australia, hope to do well with a team boasting Jose Clayton, Karim Hagui and Mohamed Jedidi, who featured in this year's African Nations Cup winning side.
In Sydney, Algeria's Mohamed Allalou won Africa's only medal in boxing - a bronze in the light welterweight class.
Boxers from Algeria and Egypt are expected to build on that while Nigeria will focus on the upper weight categories with heavyweight Emmanuel Izonritie aiming to better the silver medal won by his brother David 12 years ago.
Nigeria won Africa's only weightlifting medal in Sydney, with Ruth Ogbeifo in the women's 75kg class, but Algeria and Egypt have since made progress and it is expected more medals will be won by African lifters in Athens.