Yomi Omogbeja
Three championships records fell and one was equalled on an extraordinary day of athletics at the 11th African Games (formerly All Africa Games) in Brazzaville, Congo on Monday.
Congolese hero Franck Elemba Owaka thrilled the home fans with a smashing championship record of 20.25 metres to win the men’s Shot Put gold medal.
Mohamed Magdi of Egypt took the silver with a best throw of 19.78m and Jaco Engelbrecht of South Africa took the bronze medal with 19.55m.
Kimalou Laetitia Bambara of Burkina Faso heaved the women’s Hammer to 66.91 metres to erased another championship record at the African Games on the field.
Defending champion Amy Sene of Senegal took the silver with 63.64m while Jennifer Batu Bawsitika of Congo smashed her national record to take the bronze medal with her first round effort of 62.13m
Antonio Alkana of South Africa smashed another championships record in the men’s 110m hurdles to take the gold medal in 13.32 secs.
Algeria’s Lyes Mokdell took the silver in 13.49 while Tyrone Akins of Nigeria took the bronze medal in 13.54 secs.
Ivorians dominate the sprints
Cote d’Ivoire’s Marie-Josée Ta Lou equalled Nigeria’s Mercy Nku‘s Games record of 11.02 secs to claim the women’s 100m gold medal.
In the absence of African champion Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria and her compatriot, and Moscow 2013 silver medallist Murielle Ahoure, Marie-Josée Ta Lou blitzed the field to bag her first major African title.
Kenya’s Eunice Kadogo bagged a surprise silver in 11.47 – a new national record, while Pon Karidjatou Traore of Burkina Faso edged another Ivorian, Adeline Gouenon for the bronze medal, with both timed 11.49.
Ta Lou’s male compatriot, Ben Youssef Meite shaved 0.01 of his national record set at Beijing 2015 to claim the men’s 100m gold in 10.04 secs.
Nigeria’s Ogho-Oghene Egwero took the silver medal in 10.17 while 2014 African champion Serge Hua Wilfried Koffi of the Ivory Coast crossed the line in 10.23 to claim the bronze medal.
The men’s Triple Jump podium at the 11th African Games – Brazzaville 2015
Nigeria’s Tosin Oke retained his African Games title from Maputo 2011 with a season’s best jump of 17.00 metres in the third round.
Another Nigerian Olumide Olamigoke smashed his PB in the third round to take the silver with 16.98m while Mamadou Cherif Dia of Mali settled for the bronze with 16.55m. Roger Haitengi of Namibia finished in fourth place with a best jump of 16.40m.
Labiche hands Seychelles first gold medal
Lissa Labiche, the Maputo 2011 All-Africa Games bronze medallist, upgraded her medal this time to give Seychelles her first gold medal at the African Games here in Brazzaville.
Labiche cleared 1.91 metres to win gold, and relegate the defending champion Doreen Amata of Nigeria to the silver medal position with a best of 1.85 metres.
South Africa’s Julia Du Plessis completed the podium, edging out Ethiopia’s Ariyat Dibow and Nigeria’s Motunrayo Sasegbon for the bronze medal on count back after all three athletes cleared 1.80 metres.
Tsebelu Zewude crossed the finish line in 27:27.19 to give Ethiopia the gold in the men’s 10,000m ahead of their Kenyan Leornard Barsoton (27:27.55) while his countryman Adugna Takele took the bronze in 27:28.40.
Ethiopia’s Mekonnen Gebremedhin took the gold in the men’s 1500m in 3:45,73 ahead of Abdi Waiss Mouhyadine of Djibouti, who took silver in 3:45.98 and Salim Keddar of Algeria, who took the bronze medal in 3:46.31.
View Complete Results and Start-lists
Day 2 STARTLIST – Morning session
Day 2 STARTLIST – Afternoon session
Day 2 RESULTS – Morning session
Day 2 RESULTS – Afternoon session
