When it comes to athletics, Africa reigns and will continue to reign for the foreseeable future. Since African teams have competed in the Olympic Games, Africans have won the most athletic gold medals, with the exception of a few events such as sprints and relays. But not all African countries have such successful athletes. The countries known to regularly win Olympic gold medals are Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa, but other nations do so on occasion. If you love athletics then you will be amazed by the following list of top 10 African Olympic champions you need to know. Here it comes:
1.David Rudisha
David Lekuta Rudisha, born December 17, 1988 in Kenya, is the most prolific middle-distance runner this planet has ever seen. He is the current world and Olympic record holder in the 800 meters. He is also the current champion in 800 meters. Rudisha is the first athlete in event history to run under 1:41.00 and holds 3 fastest, 6 of 8 fastest and half of the 20 fastest times ever recorded in the event. This Kenyan runner has won the Athlete of the Year award three times in a row. In 2010 he was also awarded the IAAF World Athlete of the Year Award.
2. Ezekiel Kemboi
This is another of the most successful African Olympic gold medalists. He was born Ezekiel Kemboi Cheboi on May 25, 1982 in Marakwet District, Kenya. Kemboi is the current Olympic champion in the 3000 meter steeplechase. He won a gold medal at the 2004 and 2012 Summer Olympics. He has also won the same medals at world championships, making him one of only three to have won both world and Olympic gold at the event.
3.Tirunesh Dibaba
Officially known as Tirunesh Dibaba Kenene, this Ethiopian queen of long-distance distance even earns her position in the top 10 African Olympic gold medalists every sports lover needs to know. Dibaba is the current world record holder in the 5000 meter race and the current Olympic and world record holder in the 10,000 meter race. Her success has earned the 28-year-old the nickname “Baby-Faced Destroyer.”
4. Mezeret Defar
Meseret Defar Tola is another champion distance runner from Ethiopia. She was born in Addis Ababa 30 years ago and started international competitions at the age of 19. Defar broke the world record in the 5000m race, but her Ethiopian compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba has since set a new record. She won a gold medal at the Olympic Games in 2004 and 2012. She has also won gold medals in a variety of AAF World Championships.
5. Chad le Clos
Chad Guy Bertrand le Clos, known simply as Chadle Clos, is a celebrated South African swimmer who managed to excel at what most Africans don’t do. He is an Olympic, Commonwealth and World champion and record holder in the 50m and 100m butterfly. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Le Clos won gold in the 200m butterfly. At just 21, he still has a long career ahead of him.
6. Cameron Van Der Burgh
Cameron Van Der Burgh is another South African swimmer who managed to bag Olympic gold medals. He boasts of being the first African athlete to break a world record and a single male Olympic champion after training at home. Van Der Burgh represented his country, and therefore Africa, at both the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, winning a gold medal in the 100m breaststroke and setting a new world record.
7. Stephen Kiprotich
Stephen Kiprotich is a Ugandan who managed to make his country proud by winning a gold medal in the marathon. He also won the 2012 Olympics with gold. He made history for Uganda because it was their first gold medal since 1972 and their first medal since 1996. The medal was also valuable because it was the first ever at the marathon.
8. Taoufik Makhloufi
Taoufik Makhloufi is an Algerian track and field athlete with a specialty in middle-distance running. At the 2012 Olympics in 1500 meters he managed to win a gold medal. However, authorities were unsure if he deserved the win and since then there have been many allegations that he was taking performance-enhancing drugs at the event.
9. Tiki Gelana
Erba Tiki Gelana is a 26-year-old Ethiopian Princess of Endurance Racing. She usually takes part in the women’s marathon. She won the coveted gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the marathon. Gelana set the Olympic record with a time of 2:23:07.
10. Kenenisa Bekele
Kenenisa Bekele is another well-known Ethiopian-male athlete who is worthy of being included in this list of top 10 African Olympic gold medalists. He is a long-distance runner who holds Olympic and world records in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Bekele won a doubles event in both events. At the start of the 2004 Olympics, he managed the 10,000 meter race with gold.