Balance sheet
With 45 medals, Africa stages best
Olympic Games performance ever!
All 54 African NOCs participated in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to
21 August 2016. This issue of Africa in Rio 2016 highlights the defining moments, with
complete updates on the Continent’s participation in the quadrennial event.
Golden records
Individual feats that did Africa proud
Africa, like the other continents, participated in the 31st Olympic Games from 5 to 21 August 2016 in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and hauled 45 medals altogether. At this edition, many of the Continent’s worthy
representatives thrilled crowds the event with sheer talent.
Women’s marathon: Kenya’s Jemima Jelagat Sumgong clinches gold
K
enya’s Jemima Jelagat Sumgong won the women’s marathon of the Rio Olympics on 14 August 2016 after
timing 2 h 24 min 04 secs. Despite the scorching heat, a group of some fifteen athletes broke away very early
into the event. The favourites were there, including three Kenyans, three Ethiopians and three Americans.
The second breakaway took place at mid distance, but it ws aft the 30st kilometre mark that Ethiopia’s Tirfi
Tsegaye tried to set a path to victory for her compatriot Mare Dibaba. But this was not to be, as Kenya’s Jemima
Jelagat Sumgong and Bahrain’s Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa of Kenyan origin took control in the money-time. At the
end of the race, Sumgong, winner of this year’s London marathon, arrived ahead of Jepkirui Kirwa (2 h 24:13.)
and Mare Dibaba (2 h 24:30.). She is the first Kenyan lady to bag marathon gold at the Olympics.
Men’s 800 metres: Repeat performance for David Rudisha
O
n 15 August 2016, Kenya’s David Lekuta Rudisha kept his 800m crown won in London in 2012, after
clocking 1’42’’15, placing him atop of a podium completed by Taoufik Makhloufi (Algeria) and Clayton
Murphy (Unites States). Rudisha left the other competitors no chance, as he staged the year’s best world
performance. The two-time world champion (2011, 2015), has now become the first athlete to conserve the
800 m Olympic crown more than fifty years after the performance of New Zealand’s Peter Snell (1960 and 1964).
Nagged by injuries in recent years, Rudisha has now shown he remains the undisputed king in the distance.
Apart from his two world championship titles in Daegu and Beijing, he also won the African championships in
2008 and 2010.
Women’s 1500m : Faith Kipyegon keeps the faith
K
enya’s Faith Kipyegon, 22, won the Olympic 1500m event on 16 August 2016 in Rio, edging Ethiopia’s
Genzebe Dibaba, who was highly tipped to win the final. The bronze medal went to America’s Jennifer
Simpson. Dibaba, world record holder, (3:50.07), took the initiative at 700 m to the finish, but was
overtaken by Kipyegon at the last turn; the latter thus evens out with Dibaba, who deprived her of gold at the
world championships in Beijing in 2015.
3,000 m men’s steeple : Kenya’s Conseslus Kipruto in gold
K
enya’s Conseslus Kipruto won the men’s 3,000 m steeple
race on 17 August 2016 in 8 min 03 sec 28/100, and by
the same token set a new Olympic record in the discipline.
America’s Evan Jager and Ezekiel Kemboi were runner up and third
respectively. In August 2015, Conseslus Kipruto was runner up at
the world championships in Beijing, an event won by his fellow
countryman Ezekiel Kemboi. It was his second silver medal, after
the one he won in Moscow in 2013. In June 2016, he came very
close to the 8-minute mark when he won the Birmingham meeting
in 8 min 0 s 12. Aged just 21, Conseslus Kipruto has two world
championship silver medals to his credit, in 2013 and 2015, coming after Kemboi on either occasion. Moreover,
he was world cadet 2000 m steeple champion in 2011 in Lille, France, and a year later junior champion in
Barcelona, Spain.
Women’s 5000 m : Vivian Cheruiyot’s golden record
K
enya’s Vivian Cheruiyot won the women’s 5,000 m event at the Rio Olympics on 19 August 2016 as she
came home in 14: 2.17, thus setting a new Olympic record. Cheruiyot edged her compatriot Hellen Obiri
(14:29.77) and Almaz Ayana (14:33.59) to take home the prestigious gold medal four years after her silver
medal won in London. Tipped as favourite, Almaz Ayana, who had already won the ‘s 10,000 m event, broke
away after 1,800 m, and held a lead of about four to five seconds on her Kenyan challengers up to 4,000 metres,
when she started giving way. She was later overtaken by the two Kenyans at less than a lap to go but held on
to the finish to take home the bronze medal.
Men’s marathon: Eliud Kipchoge gets gold
K
enya’s Eliud Kipchoge, 31, was crowned Olympic marathon champion on 21 August 2016
in Rio. He did the 42.195 kilometres of the event in 2 h 8 min 54, ahead of Ethiopia’s Fiyesa
Lilesa and America’s Galen Rupp in the rain. He finally bags the gold medal that has been
eluding him since the Beijing Games in 2008. It is a crowning glory for Eliud Kipchoge, one of
the finest marathon men in recent years, with an impressive track record in the discipline.
He has in fact won the major world marathons (London twice, Berlin, Rotterdam) after a
remarkable career on the tracks (5,000 m world champion in 2003 in Paris; Olympic medallist,
winning silver in 2008 and bronze in 2004 on same distance). After winning gold, Kipchoge
talked about his career, which he qualified as fantastic, insisting he had kept the Olympic title
permanently in mind.
Men’s 400 m : Wayde van Niekerk bags gold and smashes world record
S
outh Africa’s Wayne van Niekerk emerged winner of the final of the men’s 400 m event in Rio. He dominated
the race from start to finish, clinching the gold medal and shattering the world record in 43.03 seconds. He
thus dethrones America’s Michael Johnson, who had timed 43.18 seconds at the world championships in
Seville. That record dated back to 1999. World champion in 2015, Van Niekerk, 24, largely outpaced two former
Olympic champions, Grenada’s Kirani James and America’s LaShawn Merritt the silver and bronze medallists
respectively.
Women’s 800m : Caster Semenya in gold
S
outh Africa’s Caster Semenya won the women’s 800 m final of the Rio Olympics on 20 August 2016. She
literally dominated the event from lap two, winning the race with a time of 1’55’’29, and edging Francine
Niyonsaba of Burundi and Kenya’s Margaret Wambui , a personal record). Speaking at the end of the race,
Semenya said the race was a bit fast, and that her coach asked her to be patient and to wait for the right moment.
She said she knew she would be the fastest in the last 200m, and thus just needed to use that advantage. Of
course she acknowledged her many rivals, noting that it was fantastic to run against such athletes.
Gold and a record for Almaz Ayana in women’s 10,000m
E
thiopia’s Almaz Ayana did not only win gold, but also smashed the women’s 10,000 m world record on 12
August 2016. She took the lead midway into the race and later extended it, finishing the last 17 laps solo,
and stopping the clock at 29 mins 17 secs 46/100. Her compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba finished 3rd, clinching
bronze. They both continued racing down the track, wrapped in their country’s flag, greeting the teeming
crowds that had cheered them on to victory. The silver medal went to Kenya’s Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot. Ayana
had already given a foretaste of what she was capable of at the world championships in Beijing, where she won
the 5,000 m gold.
Taekwondo : Cheick Sallah Cisse clinches gold
T
he men’s taekwondo gold medal in the -80 category went to the young Ivoirian, Cheick Sallah
Junior Cisse, who has made history as the first Ivorian to win an Olympic gold medal. He
outwitted Britain’s Lutalo Muhammad 8-6 in the dying seconds of the fight, where, with one
second left, and down 5-6, he succeeded in touching his opponent thrice. Gold medallist at the All
Africa Games in 2015, the 2015 taekwondo Grand Prix in Moscow and the 2016 African taekwondo
Championships in Port Said, Egypt, Cisse was a real medal hopeful for Côte d’Ivoire and Africa at the
Rio games. Moved by this Olympic victory, Junior Cisse could not contain his joy : «I don’t know
why! The public took sides with me from the first bout. I was myself, I gave my all that day
long. In the last bout, I applied the training strategy. We had barely a few seconds left and I
am unable to say what I did. I dared. I will have to review the images slowly. It is wonderful!
I have no intention of bragging, but I always believed in this medal. Now, I will celebrate
with the entire family!» Cisse declared at the end of the long and tedious day.
Historic!
Africa’s best Olympic Games performance ever
W
ith a total medal haul of 45 at the Games of the 31st Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Africa bettered
its performance in Beijing 2008, where the continent bagged 40 medals. This of course does all
of Africa proud. The complete list of African medal winners stands as follows.
African medallist in Rio 2016
Nom
Pays
Sport
Epreuve
Performance
Médaille
David Rudisha
Eliud Kipchoge
Conseslus Kipruto
Kenya
Kenya
Kenya
Athletics
Athletics
Athletics
1’42’’15
2h08’44’’
8’03’’28
Gold
Gold
Gold
Faith Kipyegon
Vivian Cheruiyot
Jemima Sumgong
Kenya
Kenya
Kenya
Athletics
Athletics
Athletics
4’08’’92
14’26’’17
2h24’04’’
Gold
Gold
Gold
Paul Kipngetich Tanui
Boniface Mucheru
tumuti
Julius Yego
Helen Obiri
Vivian Cheruiyot
Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi
Kenya
Kenya
Athletics
Athletics
27’05»64
47’’78
Argent
Silver
Kenya
Kenya
Kenya
Kenya
Athletics
Athletics
Athletics
Athlétisme
88m24
14’29’’77
29’32’’53
9’07’’12
Silver
Silver
Silver
Silver
Kenya
South Africa
South Africa
South Africa
South Africa
South Africa
Athletics
Athletics
Athletics
Athletics
Athletics
Aviron
800 m
Men’s Marathon
3,000 m men’s
steeple
Women’s 1500 m
Women’s 5000m
Women’s
marathon
Men’s 1,500 m
400m men’s
hurdles
Men’s javelin
Women’s 5000m
Women’s 10000m
3,000 m women’s
steeple
Women’s 800m
Men’s 400 m
Women’s 800m
Men’s long jump
Women’s javelin
Coxless pair men
1’56’’89
43’’03
1’55’’28
8m37
64m92
-
Bronze
Gold
Gold
Silver
Silver
Silver
South Africa
Swimming
1’45’’20
Silver
Margaret Wambui
Wayde Van Niekerk
Caster Semenya
Luvo Manyonga
Sunette Viljoen
Shaun Keeling et
Lawrence Brittain
Chad le Clos
200m men’s
freestyle
Cameron van der burgh
South Africa
Swimming
Chad le clos
South Africa
Swimming
Equipe masculine
Henri Schoeman
Almaz Ayana
Feyisa Lilesa
Genzebe Dibaba
Hagos Gebrhiwet
Tamirat Tola
Almaz Ayana
Tirunesh Dibaba
Mare Dibaba
South Africa
South Africa
Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopie
Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Rugby à VII
Triathlon
Athletics
Athletics
Athletics
Athletics
Athletics
Athletics
Athletics
Athletics
Cheikh Sallah Junior
Cisse
Ruth Gbagbi
Taoufik Makhloufi
Taoufik Makhloufi
Francine Niyonsaba
Abdoulrazak Issoufou
Alfaga
Mohamed Ihab Youssef
Ahmed mahmoud
Sara Samir Elsayed
Mohamed Ahmed
Hedaya Wahba
Ines Boubakri
Marwa Amri
Côte d’Ivoire
Taekwondo
100m men’s
breaststroke
100m men’s
butterfly
Men’s
Men’s event
Women’s 10000m
Men’s Marathon
Women’s 1500 m
Men’s 5000m
Men’s 10000m
Women’s 5000m
Women’s 10000m
Women’s
marathon
Men’s -80 kg
Côte d’Ivoire
Algeria
Algeria
Burundi
Niger
Taekwondo
Athletics
Athletics
Athletics
Taekwondo
Women’s -67 kg
men’s 800m
men’s 1500m
Women’s 800m
men’s +80 kg
1’42»61
3’50’’11
1’56’’49
-
Bronze
Silver
Silver
Silver
Silver
Egypt
Weightlifting
men’s -77 kg
-
Bronze
Egypt
Weightlifting
Women’s -69 kg
-
Bronze
Egypt
Tunisia
Tunisia
Taekwondo
Fencing
Free-style
wrestling
taekwondo
Boxing
Football
Women’s -57 kg
Women’s foil
Women’s -58 kg
-
Bronze
Bronze
Bronze
men’s -80 kg
men’s -69 kg
Men
-
Bronze
Bronze
Bronze
Oussama Oueslati
Mohammed Rabii
Men’s team
Tunisia
Morocco
Nigeria
58’’69
Silver
51’’14
Silver
29’17’’45
2h09’54’’
4’10’’27
13’04’’35
27’06’’26
14’33’’59
29’42’’56
2h24’30’’
Bronze
Bronze
Gold
Silver
Silver
Bronze
Bronze
Bronze
Bronze
Bronze
-
African rankings
Rio 2016: Kenya tops African medal charts
After the Rio Olympic Games from 5 to 21 August 2016, Kenya emerged as the first African nation in terms of
the medal count. Ranked overall 15th, they bagged a total 13 medals (6 gold, 6 silver and 1 bronze). Kenya thus
relegated to second position South Africa, who occupied the first rank in London 2012. The rainbow nation returned
from Rio with 10 medals (2 gold, 6 silver and 2 bronze).
African rankings
African rank
1
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
st
Country
Kenya
South Africa
Ethiopia
Côte d’Ivoire
Algeria
Burundi
Niger
Egypt
Tunisia
Morocco
Nigeria
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
6
2
1
1
-
6
6
2
2
1
1
-
1
2
5
1
3
3
1
1
13
10
8
1
2
1
1
3
3
1
1
Moving forward from Rio
Olympic flag already in Tokyo
T
hree days after the end of the games of the 31st Olympiad celebrated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Olympic flag
arrived Tokyo, host city of the next summer games billed for 2020, 52 years after the 1964 Games which were
hosted by the same city. The mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, had handed the banner with five rings to the Governor
of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, during the closing ceremony of the Rio OG on the evening of 21 August, a ceremony graced by
Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. “It looks heavy (the flag), but it isn’t that much. However, I feel the weight
of the responsibility it entails. I am delighted to bring back the flag more than 50 years after the 1964 OGs»
said Mrs Koike, who was elected at the helm of the Japanese capital city in late July. After Tokyo, the Olympic flag will
soon tour the country, notably in the North East region, which was hard hit in March 2011 by a devastating tsunami, in
a bid to sustain reconstruction efforts.