By Brian Okoth
Kenya leads Africa on medal standings at the just concluded Paris Olympic Games.
The East African nation, which ranks 17th globally at the competition, secured 11 medals, including four golds. Kenya also had two silver medals and five bronze.
Beatrice Chebet, 24, won two gold medals – in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres races, becoming the third woman in history to win gold in both races at the same Olympic Games.
The other two athletes are Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Dependable Faith Kipyegon
Faith Kipyegon won gold in the 1500 metres race, setting a new Olympic record in the competition.
The 30-year-old, who is the world record-holder in 1,500 metres women's race, became the first woman in history to win three Olympic gold medals in a single track category.
Twenty-year-old Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya won gold in 800 metres, becoming the youngest ever winner of the race in Olympic history.
Algeria came second behind Kenya in the African medal standings, with a total of three medals –two golds and one silver.
Algeria bags two gold medals
Seventeen-year-old Kaylia Nemour won Algeria's first Olympic gold in gymnastics, while 25-year-old Imane Khelif won Algeria's other gold medal in boxing.
Khelif overcame cyber-harassment over baseless gender speculation to become the first woman in Algeria's history to win gold in boxing.
South Africa came third in the African medal standings, with a total of six medals, including one gold.
Twenty-seven-year-old swimmer Tatjana Smith, who has since retired from the sport, won gold and silver medals at the Paris Olympics.
Ethiopia comes fourth
Ethiopia came fourth in the medal standings, with one gold and three silver medals. Tamirat Tola won Ethiopia's only gold in the men's marathon at the Paris Olympics.
Egypt and Tunisia won the same number of medals – one gold, one silver and one bronze each – to tie at fifth place.
Twenty-four-year-old Ahmed Elgendy of Egypt became the first African to win an Olympic gold in pentathlon – an Olympic sport that has five events, which are swimming, fighting with thin swords, riding horses, cross-country running, and shooting.
Twenty-eight-year-old Tunisian Taekwondo star Firas Katoussi won gold in the men's 80-kilogramme category at the Paris Olympic Games. He became the country's first gold medal winner in taekwondo at the Olympic Games.
Tebogo's heroics
Letsile Tebogo of Botswana won gold medal in the 200 metres race at the Paris Games, beating American Noah Lyles to the award. Botswana announced a half-working day on August 9 to celebrate the win.
Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda won gold in the men's 10,000 metres race, setting a new Olympic pace record.
Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali won gold medal in the men's 3,000 metres steeplechase at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Botswana and Uganda tied at sixth place in Africa with two medals each – one gold and one silver.
World standings
Morocco came seventh, with one gold and one bronze, while Côte d'Ivoire, Cape Verde and Zambia tied at eighth place, with a bronze each.
The United States bagged 126 medals, including 40 gold medals, to top the global medals' chart at the Paris Olympic Games.
China came second with 91 medals, including 40 golds, while Japan took the third spot with 45 medals, including 20 gold medals.
Below is a summary of the African teams' table standings at the Paris Olympic Games:
1. Kenya – 4 gold 2 silver 5 bronze (total: 11); position globally 17
2. Algeria – 2 gold 0 silver 1 bronze (total: 3); position globally 39
3. S. Africa – 1 gold 3 silver 2 bronze (total: 6); position globally 44
4. Ethiopia – 1 gold 3 silver 0 bronze (total: 4); position globally 47
5. Egypt – 1 gold 1 silver 1 bronze (total: 3); position globally 52
6. Tunisia – 1 gold 1 silver 1 bronze (total: 3); position globally 52
7. Botswana – 1 gold 1 silver 0 bronze (total: 2); position globally 55
8. Uganda – 1 gold 1 silver 0 bronze (total: 2); position globally 55
9. Morocco – 1 gold 0 silver 1 bronze (total: 2); position globally 60
10. C. d'Ivoire – 0 gold 0 silver 1 bronze (total: 1); position globally 84
11. C. Verde – 0 gold 0 silver 1 bronze (total: 1); position globally 84
12. Zambia – 0 gold 0 silver 1 bronze (total: 1); position globally 84
➤ Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel for more stories.
