Mohammed Benchrif (translated by Raphael Miller)
The Tokyo Olympics closed on Sunday with a final flourish thanks to the second consecutive Olympic title for Eliud Kipchoge in the marathon.
After 10 days of competitions (30thJuly -8thAugust), the representatives of the African continentare set to depart from the 32ndOlympic Games held in Tokyo with a haul of 23 medals (8 of them gold, 7 silver and 8 bronze).
Eight (8) African nations have played their part in amassing this collection (Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Botswana).
Kenya once again led the packwith 10 podium finishes, four of which were first places, which propelled the country to 3rd place on the track and field medal table behind the USA (26 medals including 7 gold) and Italy (5 gold medals).
Historic double for Kipchoge and Kipyegon
Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge triumphed in Sunday’s Olympic marathon in Sapporo (north Japan). He led from the front and left his main competitors in his wake after breaking away from them 10 kilometres from the finish line, which he crossed with a time of 2 hours 08 min 38 sec.
By taking first place at the Tokyo games, having also won in Rio in 2016, Kipchoge’s name will go down in history as the third marathon runner to retain an Olympic title, after the legendary Ethiopian Abebe Bikila (1960 and 1964) and East German Waldemar Cierpinski (1976 and 1980).
Kenyan Faith Kipyegon, title holder, retained her Olympic crown over 1500m stopping the clock at 3 min 53 sec 11/100.
In so doing, Kipyegon demolished the Olympic recordheld by Romanian Paula Ivan since the 1988 Seoul Olympics (3:53:96).
Two clean sweeps in the 10.000m and 3000m steeplechase
There were podium clean sweeps on the first and fourth days of athletics events in the men’s 10.000m and 3000m steeplechase.
On Friday 30thJulyin Tokyo, Ethiopian Selemon Barega was crowned Olympic champion in the 10.000m after defeating the out-and-out favourite and world record holder, Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei. He thereby provided Africa with its 9th Olympic title over the distance.
Barega, the surprise winner, covered the 10.000metres in 27 min 43 sec 22 nudging Cheptegei out in a close finish (27 min 43 sec 63) as well as fellow Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo (27 min 43 sec 88).
For his part, Moroccan athlete Soufiane El Bakkali took the Olympic title in the 3000m steeplechase, on Monday 2nd August, and in so doing gifted Morocco its 7th Olympic gold medal since 1960.
In a time of 8 min 8 sec 90, El Bakkali out classed Ethiopian Lamecha Girma (8:10:38) and Kenyan Benjamin Kigen (8:11:45),following in the footsteps of Kenyan Conseslus Kipruto, absent from the Japan games. El Bakkali thus put an end to a period of incredible Kenyan dominance over this distance; 11 Olympic titles since 1968, nine of which have been consecutive since 1984 with podium clean sweeps in 1992 and 2004.
Kenyan double in the women’s marathon and the men’s 800m
Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir became the new Olympic marathon champion, on Saturday 8th Augustin Sapporo (North Japan), by clocking a time of 2h27 min 20 sec. Jepchirchir out paced her compatriot Brigid Kosgei, the world record holder over the distance (2:14:04), by 16 seconds and American Molly Seidel, who took the bronze, by 26 seconds.
Kenya largely dominated the final of the two-lap event by taking gold and silver thanks to the efforts of Emmanuel Korir, the newly-crowned Olympic champion, who clocked a time of 1 min 45 sec 06 and beat his compatriot Ferguson Rotich by 17 hundredths of a second.
The young Ugandan Peruth Chemutai (22) tightened the African grip on the 3000m steeplechase. She was crowned Olympic champion on Wednesday 6th August, covering the distance in 9 min 01 sec 45, handing his country the third Olympic title in its history.
Cheptegei the new ruler over 5000m
Elsewhere, Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei, silver medallist in the 10.000m, secured his first Olympic title with a convincing victory in the 5000m, stopping the clock on 12 min 58 sec 15/100.
In the 1500m, Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot, 2019 world champion in Doha, took the silver medal after covering the distance in 3 min 29 sec 01/100, where as Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey, world record holder, had to settle for third place in the 10.000m and failed to add a first major title to her CV.
Botswana’s stunning performance in the 4x400 relay
On Saturday, the Botswanan 4x400m relay quartet (Isaac Makwala, Baboloki Thebe, Zibane Ngozi, BayapoNdori) achieved a remarkable third place finish along with a new African record of 2:57:27, demolishing the one they themselves had set in the semi-final on Friday 6th August (2:58:33).
Zango wins Burkina Faso its first Olympic medal
On Thursday, a bronze medal, truly worth its weight in gold, was secured by Hugues-Fabrice Zango in the triple-jump. This is the very first Olympic medal ever won by Burkina Faso since its first involvement in the 1972 Olympics in Munich.
Elsewhere, Kenyan athlete Helen Obiri, double world champion over the distance, took the silver medal in the 5000m (14:38:36), while Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay (14:38:87), clinched the bronze.
Mboma and Brume: stars of the 200m and long jump
On Tuesday 3rd August, Namibia and Nigeria claimed their places on the medal table thanks to the remarkable exploits of promising young stars Christine Mboma (200m) and Ese Brume (long jump). The athletes respectively provided Namibia (silver) and Nigeria (bronze) with their first medals of the Tokyo games. The young Namibian sensation, Christine Mboma (18) grabbed the headlines on Monday 2nd August when she finished in the fastest time across all seven heats, thereby also setting a new junior world record (U20) of 21 sec 81/100. Likewise, the Ivorian star Marie-José Ta Lou equalled the African 100m record set by her compatriot Murielle Ahouré (10 sec 78/100).
