Seven African athletes have secured their places in Friday’s final of the 3000msteeplechase at the Tokyo Olympic Games, which continue until 8^th August.

The Moroccan Soufiane El Bakkali, among the gold medal hopefuls, kept a restrained pace and positioned himself well right from the starter’s gun,preferring to control the third-round raceright up until the final lap. This turned out to be a highly effective tactic, with the athlete managing to do what was necessary without exerting too much energy and covering the distance in 8min 19 sec.

Moroccan athletes won the Pan-Arab Championships, held in Tunis from June 16 to 20. They won 31 medals (10 gold, 9 silver and 12 bronze), ahead of Tunisia (16 medals including 7 gold) and Algeria (21 medals including 6 gold).

Africa has regained its supremacy in the long distance by currently holding the world records in the 5,000m and 10,000m, in both men and women. Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei and Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey are the authors of these performances. Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey set a new 10,000m world record by clocking 29’01’03 during the Ethiopian Olympic trials in Hengelo (Netherlands). She erased the record held by Ethiopian-born Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan (29'06”82). The latter had dethroned the Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana who, in 2016, had run in 29’17”45

Mrs Tchanilé-Salifou Falilatou, wife of Dogo, has been elected president of the Togolese athletics federation to succeed Professor Assima Kpatcha Essoham who did not seek for a new term.  She won 34 votes against 22 for her competitor Djobokou Dieudonné. Thus, the Confederation of African Athletics currently has five women presidents of federations out of 54 countries. Mrs Dogo Falilatou is the president of the Rules Commission at the National Olympic Committee of Togo.

The function of a national technical director requires qualities including a very high level of his specialty, a sense of responsibility, courage in decision-making, insisted athletics experts during a seminar organized by videoconference by the African Athletics Development center in Dakar (AADC).

The African Senior Athletics Championships, initially scheduled for Oran, are to be held June 24-28, 2021 in Algiers. However, the Algerian organizers are awaiting the green light from the national scientific commission for monitoring the Covid-19 pandemic, which alone is empowered to make a decision in relation to the evolution of the pandemic at national and regional level. The CAA is listening to the Algerian authorities to confirm the date of the championships.

The athletics stadium "SATO" of the Olympic complex Mohamed-Boudiaf (Algiers) reopened its doors after a renovation and rehabilitation operation as part of a global project that affected the entire infrastructure of this site.

Christine Mboma improved her junior world record in the 400m at the Namibia Championships. The Namibian won over the m distance in 49''22, a week after achieving 49''24 at the meeting in Lusaka (Zambia).

For Mboma (18 years old on May 22), this performance was already a junior world record, better than the 49''42 of the German Grit Breuer.

Despite the postponement of some events due to the pandemic, Athletics Kenya is wasting no time in reaching across the nation for participants in the ‘Global Conversation for the Future of Athletics’.

As one of the sport’s giants – in terms of international medals – the national federation is steeped in athletics history. But it is embracing new methods to engage audiences in the unprecedented consultation exercise of athletes, coaches, officials, event organisers, fans and anyone with an interest in athletics.