Africa has had a lot of medal moments at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
In the first event of Paris 2024, rugby sevens, South Africa beat Australia to win bronze in the men’s event at the Stade de France. This was the continent’s first gold.
In the artistic gymnastics competition, one of the most emotional wins so far came from an athlete from Africa, who won a rare gold medal and stood out among stars like Simone Biles from the USA and Rebeca Andrade from Brazil.
Kaylia Nemour of Algeria (pictured above) won an Olympic gold medal on the uneven bars. She was the first gymnast from Algeria or Africa to ever win an Olympic title.
Tatjana Smith of South Africa was another great African Olympic champion. She was playing in what would be her last Olympics. She won gold in the women’s 100m breaststroke and then added a silver medal in the 200m breaststroke three days later. She is 27 years old.
African fencers also won two medals. Mahmoud Elsayad of Egypt won bronze in the men’s epee individual event, and Fares Ferjani of Tunisia won silver in the men’s sabre individual event. As of August 6, both awards are the only ones their countries have ever had.
Teams from Africa have also shown how strong they are on the world stage.
In football, the bronze medal game for men is between Morocco and Egypt. The winner will likely win their first Olympic prize in the beautiful game.
Lastly, South Sudan’s men’s basketball team, which competed at its first Olympics in Paris 2024, is another African team that has done well at the Olympics. Oh, and they won their first game, too. On July 28, they beat Puerto Rico 90–79.
There are still a lot of medals to be won, and Africa will definitely get more at the Games.