This week, we will talk about Faith Kipyegon, our Kenyan sister who made history at the Paris 2024 Olympics as the first African athlete to earn a gold medal in the same discipline three times in a row: Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020, and now Paris 2024. This is a remarkable feat never achieved before by an African, and only a select few athletes in the world can claim such in any Olympic discipline. She said, “It’s a big, big achievement. I was really looking forward to defending my title. I had a dream, I completed it. … I managed to make history, to win the gold medal in the 1500. It was my key target. I’m so, so grateful.” And Faith went further by setting a new Olympic record in the event with a time of 3:51.29. She is considered one of the greatest 1,500m athletes the world has ever seen, and has dominated the field for the past 7 years. Moreover, she has a gracious presence which makes her endearing to her fellow competitors. She is nicknamed the “smilingdestroyer.”
Faith Kipyegon winning historic 3rd gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics (source: Kelly Ayodi for Olympics Kenya – EastleighVoice.co.ke)
She posted on X,
“Track History Made in Kenya Three successive Olympic titles in women’s 1500m : Rio-2016, Tokyo-2020, Paris-2024
It has taken DISCIPLINE, HARD WORK, DEDICATION, CONSISTENCY and FAITH
Praise be to God Thanks for the love“
Flag of Kenya
Born in 1994 on a rural Kenyan farm in Nakuru County in the Rift Valley, Kipyegon, like so many Kenyan and Ethiopian distance runners, walked and jogged many miles to and from school. She grew up exposed to a culture of running in her family (her elder sister Beatrice Mutai is a 10km and half marathon specialist, her dad Samuel Kipyegon Koech was a 400m and 800m runner, whole her mother was also in athletics) and community. Her talent was identified early on by her physical education (P.E.) teacher. By the time she was 16, she had already placed 4th in the World Cross Country championships. She trains in Kaptagat and shares the same coach, Patrick Sang, as another great Eliud Kipchoge. She is also a mother of a beautiful daughter, and on the year she came back from maternity in 2019, she won at the Diamond League in Oregon. She owes her success to, as she says, hard work, discipline, dedication, consistency and faith, but also to the great Kenya’s athletics training system which has given us phenomenal distance runners over the years.
Now onto further victories for Faith, for Kenya, and for Africa as whole. The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are around the corner. Let’s keep working hard, consistently, in a discipline manner, and with faith.
Ahmed Hafnaoui of Tunisia winning the Gold during the 400m freestyle at the Tokyo 2020 (Source: ca.sports.yahoo.com)
This week more history has been made for Africa at the Olympics. Records have been broken and Africans have responded present with strength.
Tunisia, with Ahmed Hafnaouioffered the African continent its first medal of the games, by winning gold in the 400m freestyle swimming. Then, Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi won silver in the Men’s 58kg Taekwondo.
Hugues Fabrice Zango getting his triple jump (Source: bbc.co.uk)
Burkina Faso got its first ever medal since the creation of the Olympic games. Hugues Fabrice Zango won the bronze medal in the Men’s triplejump. It was really good to watch him, and I am proud for this son of the land of Thomas Sankara. Moreover, he won his medal, Burkina Faso’s medal on the 61st anniversary of the country’s independence (as you know most Francophone countries are not really independent from France because of the FCFA, but this is a story for another day).
NamibiaChristine Mboma came back from behind to win silver in the Women’s 200m in front of some of the world’s best. Now remember that Christine Mboma and her compatriot Beatrice Masilingi were barred from running their favorite distance, 400m, just a month ago, and had to all of sudden readjust to run 200m. They were declared ineligible for the longer race because of a genetic condition that raises their testosterone levels. South African Caster Semenya, a two-time Olympic champion in the 800m (2016 and 2012), is the most famous DSD (difference in sexual development) athlete who has been stopped from running in Tokyo. All three 800m medallists at the 2016 Rio Olympics – Semenya, Burundi’s silver medallist Francine Niyonsaba and Kenyan bronze winner Margaret Wambui – were DSD athletes… I am not sure I understand the whole issue, because for me, I wonder how one can be born female and then one day some organization tells them that they are not female. I find it hard to fathom. So let’s see what will happen. Mboma is the first Namibian female to win an olympic medal… she is following in the tracks of the great Namibian athlete Frankie Fredericks (Frankie Fredericks: Sprinting to the Finish for Namibia).
Christine Mboma of Namibia (Source: indianExpress)
Blessing Oborududu of Nigeria won Silver in the Women’s freestyle 68kg. Ese Brume did not disappoint and won Nigeria’s first medal of the Tokyo Olympic Games, taking bronze in the women’s long jump.
Ethiopia Selemon Barega gave Ethiopia its first Men’s 10,000m gold since Kenenisa Bekele in 2008. Lamecha Girma won silver in the Men’s 3000m steeplechase. Gudaf Tsegay won bronze in the Women’s 5000m race, while Letesenbet Gidey won the bronze medal in Women’s 10000m.
Uganda Joshua Cheptegei, the World champion and world record holder, ran a controlled race to take the men’s 5000m gold; last week, he had also won silver in the Men’s 10,000m. Jacob Kiplimo won the bronze medal in the Men’s 10,000m race. Peruth Chemutai became the first Ugandan woman ever to win an Olympic gold medal on Wednesday – triumphing in the Women’s 3,000m steeplechase.
Eliud Kipchoge winning gold at the Men’s marathon (Source: OregonLive.com)
Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, who had been training with legends like marathon world record holderEliud Kipchogethwarted World champion’s Sifan Hassan’s plans of winning a distance treble in Tokyo by retaining the women’s 1500m title by pulling ahead after the bell and winning gold. Her compatriot Peres Jepchirchir won the women’s marathon, defeating world record holder Brigid Kosgei in the closing stages and winning in 2h27min20s, and Kosgei had to settle for silver. Hellen Obiritook home silver in Women’s 5,000m, while Hyvin Kiyeng won bronze in Women’s3000m steeplechase. The men’s 800m gold went to Emmanuel Kipkurui Korir of Kenya, and his teammate Ferguson Rotich took silver. Timothy Cheruiyot took silver in the Men’s 1500m, while Compatriot Benjamin Kiven took bronze in the men’s 3000m steeplechase. Eliud Kipchoge successfully defended his olympic title at the marathon; he is only the 3rd person in the history of the games to win successive marathons.
South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker won gold, and broke the Women’s 200m world record for breaststroke on Friday. This earned her a call from the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, to congratulate her on her victory. Schoenmaker had previously won silver in the Women’s 100m breastrokes, while Bianca Buitendag took silver in surfing,
Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali triumphed in the Olympic Men’s 3,000m steeplechase – ending Kenya’s 41-year unbeaten run on the distance.
Egypt’s Giana Farouk (Lotfy) won bronze in the Women’s kumite karate. Seif Eissa, Hedaya Malak, and Mohammed Elsayed Elsayed all won bronze medals in the Men’s 80kg taekwondo, Women’s 67kg taekwondo and Men’s 67kg Greco-Roman wrestling respectively.
Faith Kipyegon winning the 1500m (Source: si.com)
Ruth Gbagbiof Cote d’Ivoire won bronze in the Women’s 67kg Taekwondo. She had won Bronze also in Rio 2016. Ghana also took home bronze in the Men’s Feather (52-57kg) boxing with Samuel Takyi.
Lastly, Team Botswana (Isaac Makwala, Baboloki Thebe, Zibane Ngozi, Bayapo Ndori) surprised everyone by giving a beautiful performance and winning the bronze amidst some of the world’s bests in the Men’s 4x400m relay.
Overall, it was a good game… As we turn the page of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics which took place in 2021, we do hope that the Paris 2024 Olympics will be better for Africa, and that the world will be in a better place.
African Heritage 