As fans and Olympians were still reeling over the Paris 2024 Olympic games, Paris played host to the 2024 Paralympic games. The 17th edition of the games took place between the 28th of August to the 8th of September, 2024 in the French Capital.
Egypt was the most represented African nation with 54 representatives followed by Morocco with 38. Nigeria had 23 representatives while a number of African countries such as Togo, Burkina Faso had one representative each.
The continent had a stellar showing at the games, winning numerous medals, shattering world records and rewriting history. We take a look at the top 10 African moments at the 2024 Paralympic Games.
MOROCCAN EXCELLENCE
Morocco recorded the highest medal tally of any African nation at the 17th Paralympic games, with fifteen medals. They had three gold medals, six silver medals and five bronze medals. Algeria’s continent high 6 gold medals allowed them to top the African medal table. This was Morocco’s highest medal tally in the history of the Paralympic games. Algeria and Tunisia were hot on their heels with eleven medals each.
Aymane El Haddaoui, the T47 100m race bronze winner, led them to their first medal at the games and secured a gold medal for his country during the course of the games.
Mouncef Bouja helped the country secure their first gold medal in Paris, winning the men’s T12 400m.
Moroccan para-athlete Fatima Ezzahra El Idrissi smashed the world record in the women’s marathon category.
She completed her race in 2 hours, 48 minutes and 36 seconds, ahead of compatriot Meryem En-Nourhi and the previous World record holder Misato Michishita. An unforgettable Paralympic campaign for the Moroccans.
EL HADDAOUI’S HEROICS
Aymane El Haddaoui was one of Morocco’s standout performers at the Paralympics. He famously set an African record 10.69 seconds in his semifinal heat qualification to secure a place in the final of the T47 100m race. He secured a bronze medal for Morocco in a closely contested final, the North African country’s first medal of the games.
However, his highlight moment was yet to comme. The para-athlete set a world record 46.65 seconds to win the gold medal in the men’s T47 400m race, finishing ahead of countryman and Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Ayoub Sadni as well as Brazil’s Thomaz Ruan de Moraes who finished in third place.
Exemplary performances by the 24 year old in his debut Paralympic games campaign.
OLUWAFEMIAYO SHATTERS THE WORLD RECORDS
Nigerian para-powerlifting world record holder Folashade Oluwafemiayo arrived at the 2024 Paralympic games with the aim of securing a gold medal in the over 86 kg women’s category final. She achieved her goal by shattering the world record.
She became the first female para-athlete in history to lift 166 kg, breaking her own previous world record of 165kg. Subsequently, having secured the gold medal in the 166kg, she decided to improve her world record by lifting the 167kg, lifting it successfully.
The London 2012 75 kg silver medalist has now secured back to back gold medals, having won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic games in the women’s 86kg. Her story is inspirational as she has greatly persevered, overcome disappointments and now she’s breaking world records repeatedly.
WORLD BEATERS
Nigeria’s success story in the Powerlifting category in Paralympic games is well pronounced. The West African giants have topped the para-powerlifting table at two of the last three Games. As such, all eyes were on the para-powerlifters going into this tournament.
Paralympics debutant Onyinyechi Mark set a new world record of 150kg in the 61 kg category. Initially she shattered the world record with a 147 kg lift and proceeded to shatter it again with her 150kg lift.
Her fellow debutant Esther Nworgu wasn’t left out, clinching the silver medal in the 41kg category.
Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Bose Omolayo secured a silver medal in the 79kg category, finishing behind China’s Han Miaoyu who claimed a world record.
The para-powerlifters contributed greatly to Team Nigeria’s haul of seven medals at the games.
A NATIONAL SYMBOL OF EXCELLENCE
Tunisia’s Self proclaimed throwing Queen Raoua Tlili cemented her dominance in the F41 discus throw and shot put at the Paris 2024 Paralympic games.
She won her fifth consecutive gold medal in the shot put event at the Paralympic games, further highlighting her unrivaled status in the competition.
She also dominated the F41 discus throw and secured the gold medal. She was unable to shatter and extend her world record but her throw was enough for her to defend her title from Tokyo 2020 ahead of Morocco’s Youssra Karim and Ecuador’s Estefany Lopez.
The 34-year-old holds national records for the most Paralympic gold medals (eight) and total medals at the Games (ten), in Tunisia’s history. A national symbol of excellence who keeps raising the bar high.
ATHMANI DELIVERS A SUPERB PERFORMANCE
All eyes were on Algerian para-athlete Skander Djamil Athmani going into the Paralympic games. After his impressive debut appearance at Tokyo 2020, Algeria looked to him for inspiration and he delivered perfectly.
The world record holder in the T13 400m race successfully defended his title in Paris.
Athmani improved on his second-placed finish at Tokyo 2020 to win another gold medal in the T13 100m category, finishing ahead of Norway’s Salum Kashafali and Japan’s Shuta Kawakami to set a new Paralympic and African record time. Way to go Athmani!
MHLONG SPRINTS BEYOND THE RECORDS
South African para-athlete Mpumelelo Mhlongu famously broke the T44 200m World Record and set the T44 200m, 100m, and long jump Paralympic Games records.
Team South Africa’s joint flag bearer lived up to expectations at this summer’s games. He secured a gold medal in the men’s T44 100m, finishing ahead of Cuba’s Yamel Vives Suarez and Malaysia’s Eddy Bernard. His co-athletes were unable to match his speed and determination as he surged ahead in the race.
He also secured a bronze medal in the men’s 200m T64 race finishing behind Levi Vloet and Sherman Guit.
His win seemingly spurred other South Africans to victory as other athletes started winning medals after his gold medal win.
Additionally, he set a new World record in the men’s T64 long jump. South Africa’s joint flag bearer most certainly set the gold standard.
GUENDOUZ MAKES HISTORY
Brahim Guendouz helped Algeria win its first ever Paralympic games medal outside para-athletics, para-judo and para-powerlifting as he won the gold medal in para-canoeing Kayak (KL3) 200m event.
He blazed ahead of Australia’s Littlehales Dylan and Brazil’s Rodrigues Elias to finish first with a time of 39.91 seconds.
He was the only African medalist in this category. He hopes to inspire more para-canoeists from the African continent with his heroics.
YOVANNI REWRITES HISTORY
A number of countries arrived at the Paris 2024 Paralympic games with the intention of winning their first ever Paralympic medal. However, Mauritius, Nepal and the Refugee Paralympic Team were the only countries that managed to rewrite the history books.
Mauritius’ para-athlete Yovanni Philippe secured a third-place finish in the men’s T20 400m to give his country their first medal in the Paralympic games.
He showed remarkable grit and determination to sprint into the third position in the final lap of the race and obtain a large slice of history.
He was able to fulfill his lifelong dream of not just representing his country at the Games, but also securing a medal for his country. At 22, the sky could be the limit for this young para-athlete.
TESFAW DOMINATES THE HEADLINES
East Africans have a memorable love story with long distance races. Ethiopia’s Yayesh Tesfaw wrote her own chapter in the beautiful love story at the Paralympic games.
Making her debut appearance at the games, she arrived at the games as the world record record holder in the women’s 1500 metres T11 marathon with a time of 4:31.77. She finished in first place in her semi final heats to book a place and the final.
Cometh the hour, cometh the woman! In the T11 marathon final, she put in a world class final performance to finish first with a world-record run of 4:27.68, shattering her previous record and winning the gold medal.
She finished ahead of China’s He Shanshan and South Africa’s Louzanne Coetzee. As far as debut Paralympic campaigns go, this was very special.
