Hosts South Africa extended what must now be an unassailable lead on the medals table after Day 3 of the ongoing 2016 African Championships in Athletics on Friday June 24th. After racking up 6 Golds in the first 2 days, South Africa claimed 3 more on Friday, through the men’s and women’s 4x100m relays and Caster Semenya in the women’s 1,500m, on a day when a further 11 events were decided, to add to the 11 events decided on the first 2 days.
South Africa’s tally now stands at 9 Gold, 5 Silver and 3 Bronze, and with just 2 days of the Championship left, that will take some beating, considering that 2nd placed Kenya is currently far behind on 3 Golds, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze.
African powerhouses Nigeria jumped from 10th on Day 2 to third place in the standings, thanks to Ese Brume retaining her African Long Jump crown and a clean sweep of all the medals in the women’s discus throw, while Chidi Okezie and Patience Okon George and claimed Bronze medals in the men’s and women’s 400m. Nigeria now has 2 Golds, 1 Silver and 5 Bronze medals.
The race for 2nd and 3rd place in the medals table is heating up, as Cote d’Ivoire also have 2 Golds, from the 100m sprints on Day 2, and Botswana also have 2 Golds, from the men’s 400m & 800m on Day 3.
With 6 more events to be decided on Saturday and a whopping 15 on Sunday, expect more movement in the medals table, particularly as Kenya and Nigeria likely fight it out for 2nd place overall behind South Africa. Both nations are expecting to finish somewhere around 7 Golds, so it will be interesting to see who eventually finishes second come the end of proceedings on Sunday!
