Africa’s Most Athletics Successful Countries

According to the study, Africa’s top two national treasures are Kirsty Coventry (Zimbabwe) and Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia). Both of them are women!

Kirsty Coventry has won seven of Zimbabwe’s eight medals and has since been appointed Minister of Youth, Sport, Art, and Recreation by the President of Zimbabwe. Coventry campaigns on various issues, including anti-doping and the reduction of youth drowning rates. However, she remains a controversial figure as a minority white figure in Zimbabwe’s complex political landscape.

These are the top 5 most successful olympians from Africa

According to the study, Africa’s top two national treasures are Kirsty Coventry (Zimbabwe) and Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia). Both of them are women!

Tirunesh Dibaba, an Ethiopian long-distance runner with three gold medals to her name, comes from a dynasty of decorated athletes. In one of her interviews with CNN, Dibaba said that for Ethiopia, nothing short of gold will do. “Our country is not like other countries; silver and bronze in our country is no better than finishing fifth or sixth.”

Here are the Top 5 Most Successful Olympians From Africa

5. Mohamed Gammoudi – Tunisia

(1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze – 9 points)

Mohamed Gammoudi is Tunisia’s most decorated athlete with 4 Olympic medals (1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze). He represented Tunisia in the Tokyo, Mexico City, and Munich Olympiads and recorded four medals, including a gold medal in the 5000 metres event in Mexico City.

He is regarded as one of the pioneers of the African long-distance running revolution that changed the face of the sport in the final decades of the 20th century.

4. Chad Le Clos

(1 gold medal and 3 silvers = 10 points)

Le Clos, South Africa’s most decorated Olympian, boasts a gold medal and three silvers from the 2012 London Games and 2016 Rio Olympics. An Olympic, World and Commonwealth Games champion, Le Clos is the current Commonwealth record holder in the 50 and 100-metre butterfly.

He made history by becoming the first man to win three consecutive 200m butterfly Commonwealth titles, claiming three gold medals in the 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly events at the Commonwealth Games.

4. Hicham El Guerrouj – Morocco

(2 gold, 1 silver = 10 points)

Hicham El Guerrouj is considered the best Moroccan athlete of all time and probably the greatest middle-distance runner in history. A specialist in long-distance and middle-distance races, El Guerrouj, has also won the world championship in the 1500 meters six times: four consecutive times and twice indoors.
He has won the World Athlete of the Year awards three times and holds 7 of the fastest 10 times ever run in the 1500 metres and in the mile. He was also a gold medal winner at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and is still the current 1,500m outdoor world record holder.

3. Kipchoge Keino – Kenya

(2 gold, 2 silver = 12 points)

Kipchoge Keino is one of Kenya’s greatest Olympic athletes and one of the world’s early role models who inspired the great Kenyan tradition of distance running.

He emerged as a leading distance runner during the mid-1960s, setting world records in the 3,000 metres (7 minutes 39.6 seconds) and the 5,000 metres (13 minutes 24.2 seconds). A two-time Olympic gold medallist, Keino has helped and inspired many of his fellow countrymen and women to become the athletics force that they are today.

2. Tirunesh Dibada – Ethiopia

(3 gold, 3 bronze = 15 points)

Tirunesh Dibaba is the youngest female world champion in the history of athletics, the first woman to achieve the Olympic 5,000m/10,000m double, and the first to successfully defend a long-distance title at the Games.

Nicknamed the “Baby Faced Destroyer, Dibaba has won three Olympic track gold medals, five World Championship track gold medals, four individual World Cross Country (WCC) adult titles, and one individual WCC junior title.

She was also the 5000 metres (outdoor track) world record holder.

1. Kirsty Coventry – Zimbabwe

(2 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze = 17 points

Kirsty Coventry – Zimbabwe

Kirsty Coventry is the most decorated Olympian from Africa, having won seven of Zimbabwe’s eight Olympic medals to date. One of the world’s top backstroke and medley swimmers, she won three medals in the 2004 Olympics, including a gold in the 200m backstroke.

She retained that title in 2008, and has added four silver and one bronze medal to her tally.