The Olympics is a global competition that has been known to unite the world for the past 128 years. However, it wasn’t until the 1950s that Africa gained full participation. Since then, Africa has made her mark at every Games. The 2024 Paris Olympics was no exception as the continent showcased its excellence and even earned historic medals in the process. Let’s take a look at our Top 10 historic Athletics moments at the recently concluded Olympics, beginning from Nos. 10-6 in Part 1 of this feature.

10. Van Dyk’s glorious Silver in the women’s Javelin Throw

Jo-Ané van Dyk became Africa’s sole medallist in the field events at the Paris Games having earned a Silver medal in the women’s Javelin throw. The South African had an impressive lead up to the Olympics, winning GOLD at the African Games and African Championships respectively. However, the thrower was in danger of getting eliminated in the final after placing 10th in the first two rounds at the Olympics. On her third attempt, she leapfrogged from 10th place to a Silver medal placement with a mark of 63.93m, a position she held on to for the rest of the competition, matching her compatriot Sunette Viljoen’s feat at the Rio 2016 Olympics. The last time Africa failed to win a field medal at the Olympics was at the 2012 London Games.

9. South Africa snatches men’s 4x100m Silver & African Record

What better way to crown years of dedication and persistence than winning your first major global medal at the Olympics. That was the case of South Africa in the 4x100m relay. For the past seven years, South Africa had proven to be a stronghold in the men’s 4x100m but were unable to get their hands on a major international medal. However, that came to a halt at the Paris Olympics as veteran Akani Simbine anchored a team that included a couple of youngsters such as high schooler Bayanda Walaza (who would proceed to win the 100m/200m at the World U20 Championships in Lima a few weeks later) and Bradley Nkoana (who emerged 100m Bronze medallist in Lima), as well as Shaun Maswanganyi to earn their first ever Olympic relay medal in a new African Record of 37.57s, bettering their 37.65 set in 2019. Also, Simbine finally got to call himself an Olympic medallist after missing out on the 100m podium for three successive Games, placing 5th in Rio, and 4th in Tokyo and Paris respectively.

8. Botswana wins 4x400m Silver and breaks African Record

The Botswana quartet of Bayapo Ndori, Busang Kebinatshipi, Anthony Pesela and Letsile Tebogo proved that their nation is the most dominant force in the men’s quartermile sector in Africa for the past three Olympic cycles. In Paris, the team bettered their Bronze medal won at the Tokyo Games to a Silver medal in a new African Record (AR) of 2:54.53 even as Tebogo came close to anchoring his teammates to GOLD in the fastest 4x400m race in Olympic history. The 200m AR holder bolted to the second fastest split in history (43.03s) but was held down by USA’s Rai Benjamin, a déjà vu moment from the 2017 World Relays where LaShawn Merritt held off Karabo Sibanda to take the title. Botswana become the second African 4x400m quartet after Nigeria to medal in two consecutive Olympics. Nigeria won GOLD and Bronze at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics respectively. This was also Botswana’s first time ever to win more than one medal at the same Olympics.

7. Cheptegei smashes 10,000m Olympic Record to win GOLD

Joshua Cheptegei upgraded his Silver medal from the Tokyo Olympics to a GOLD medal at the Paris Olympics, sealing the Olympic cycle with a three-peat global GOLD (Oregon 2022, Budapest 2023 and Paris 2024). In the quest to win the 10,000m title, the Ugandan obliterated the 16-year-old Olympic Record (OR) of 27:01.17 set by Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia by a massive 18 seconds, stopping the clock at 26:43.14. The first 13-placed finishers also surpassed the previous Olympic Record, showing the depth and quality of the race. The race took so much from Cheptegei that the three-time World Champion had to withdraw from the 5000m event in Paris.

6. Wanyonyi strikes GOLD, moves to 3rd in 800m all-time list

Emmanuel Wanyonyi emerged winner by the narrowest of margins in one of the most intriguing races at the Paris Olympics. The men’s 800m final witnessed four athletes go under 1:42 for the first time in a single race. It was a clash of the titans, with Wanyonyi, World Champion Marco Arop, and World leader Djamel Sefjati (who many thought would take the title because he held the top two fastest times in the season) going against each other. As the bell jingled for the final lap, Wanyonyi went all out, taking no chances. The Kenyan refused to relinquish his lead even though Arop was gaining ground on every metre. They both crossed the line with 1:41.19 to 1:41.20 respectively, taking the pair to Nos. 3 and 4 respectively on the all-time list. Sedjati was 3rd in 1:41:50. Wanyonyi’s victory extended Kenya’s dominance in the event for five consecutive Olympic Games.

Watch out for Part 2 of this feature, which will showcase our Top 5 African Moments from the Paris Olympics and will be published later this week!

, ,

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here