The ongoing 2024 Paris Olympics marks a vibrant celebration of athletic excellence, cultural diversity, and innovation. Set against the backdrop of one of the world’s most iconic cities, the Games features over 10,000 athletes from around the globe competing in a wide array of sports—gymnastics, basketball, track racing, break dancing, weightlifting, skateboarding, and so much more.
This year’s Olympics showcases a remarkable array of talent and determination, particularly among African women who excelled across various disciplines. These female athletes have not only brought home medals but also inspired countless individuals with their exceptional performances and stories of resilience.
From the track to the court , their achievements highlights the growing prominence of African women in the global sporting arena. This article celebrates the triumphs of these extraordinary women, shedding light on their journeys, their victories, and the enduring impact they have made in the world of sports.
D’Tigress, Nigeria’s Women’s Basketball Team
Under the coaching of Rena Wakama (the first female head coach of Nigeria’s Women’s Basketball Team), D’Tigress became the first African basketball team —male or female— to reach the quarter-finals of an Olympic Games after beating Canada in a game on 4th August 2024.
D’Tigress consists of female athletes who bring a lot of energy to the court. Some of them are point guard Ezinne Kalu—the 32-year-old averaged 19.3 points per game, and her haul of 21 points against Canada made her the first Nigerian player to score 20 or more points at the Olympics since Mfon Udoka, who managed that feat twice in 2004—, Guard Promise Amukamara—who led the team in assists, averaging 6.7 per game and forward Murjanatu Musa—who was crucial defensively, with an average of 6.7 rebounds per game.
The 2024 Olympics journey ended for Nigeria’s Impressive D’Tigresss during their quarter-final game against the USA’s formidable female basketball team that has won the past seven Olympic tournaments, bowing out high with a final score of 74-88. Yet, the story of our nation’s team remains one of resilience. Insufficient support and financial struggles nearly disabled the team, and even before travelling to Paris, they had to deal with another setback, as captain Sarah Ogoke was forced to withdraw for personal reasons. Despite these, the D’Tigress went on and still achieved amazing feats and made Nigerians and Africans proud.
They were the only African team to qualify for the basketball Olympics game; they defeated No. 3 ranked Australia in their first game, they Beat No.5 ranked Canada to reach the knockout stage, they were the first African team to ever reach an Olympic quarterfinal match, and they achieved the best-ever finish by an African team at the Olympics, male or female. What a superb run!
Smith Tatjana
Tatjana Smith, a South African swimmer, won the gold medal in the women’s 100m breaststroke at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Her victory marked South Africa’s first gold medal in the Olympics since 1996. She finished with a record time of 1:04.82, narrowly beating China’s Tang Qianting and Ireland’s Mona McSharry, who took silver and bronze, respectively.
Three days after winning gold at the Olympics, Smith also secured a silver medal in the 200m breaststroke in Paris. Her success in Paris follows her achievements at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she won a gold medal in the 200-metre breaststroke and a silver medal in the 100-metre breaststroke. Swimming since the young age of 5, she has garnered impressive achievements outside of her Olympics wins, some of them include three golds and one silver medal at the Commonwealth Games and two gold medals at the 2019 World University Games.
Smith announced her retirement shortly after the Paris Olympics, making her South Africa’s most decorated Olympian. Her role models remain Usain Bolt, Penelope Heyns, Chad le Clos, and Michael Phelps. Smith Tatjana’s philosophy in life is to focus on one’s improvement and own goals rather than comparing oneself to others.
Tobi Amusan
Tobi Amusan is a Nigerian track and field athlete specializing in the 100-meter hurdles. Amusan is the current world record holder in the 100 metres hurdles with a time of 12.12 seconds, which she set at the 2022 Women’s World Athletics Championship 100 metres hurdles semi final, followed up by a 12.06 seconds in the finals. Thus, becoming the the first ever Nigerian world champion and world record holder in an athletics event.
In 2020 Tokyo Olympics, The 27-year old placed fourth in the 100-meter hurdles final, narrowly missing out on a medal. Despite this, her performance was a significant step up from her previous Olympic appearance in Rio 2016, where she did not make it past the semifinals.
In the Paris 2024 Olympics, Amusan cruised into the semi-finals running a time of 12.49s to beat USA’s Alaysha Johnson, who was second in 12.61s and Janeek Brown third in 12.84s. Notably, she produced the second-fastest time in the heats, behind Olympic champion and Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who ran 12.42s.
However, Tobi Amusan did not make it to the final of women’s 100m Hurdles. She missed out on a place in the final, finishing 9th overall from the semifinals.
Regardless of this outcome, Tobi has already made history, and we look forward to seeing her shine on the world’s biggest stage.
Nemour Kaylia
Kaylia Nemour, a 17-year-old French-born gymnast representing Algeria, made history at the 2024 Paris Olympics by winning the gold medal in artistic gymnastics, the women’s uneven bars. This victory marked the first Olympic gymnastics medal for Algeria and any African nation. Nemour scored an impressive 15.700, narrowly edging out China’s Qiu Qiyuan, the reigning world champion.
Nemour’s journey to this achievement is notable. She initially competed for France but switched to representing Algeria, the country of her father’s birth, in 2023 due to a dispute with the French Gymnastics Federation, which did not clear her to return to action following knee surgery. Her decision paid off for Africans when she claimed silver in the uneven bars at the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp, becoming the first African gymnast to win a medal at that event. Later on, in the 2024 Olympics, she became the 2024 World Cup series overall winner in the uneven bars, bagging three wins across the season.
Ironically, as a child, Nemour never appeared to be a gifted gymnast. Gina Chirilcenco, one of her coaches, said that Nemour’s persistence to do high-level gymnastics was the driving force in all that she has achieved today.
Notably, a skill Nemour performed on the uneven bars at a prior competition, the 2023 African Championships in Tshwane, South Africa, was named for and after her in the International Gymnastics Federation’s (FIG) Code of Points. The skill, which is now called “The Nemour,” merited an “E” value. It consists of a clear pike circle backwards with counter-stretched reverse Hecht in layout position over the high bar to hang. Pretty Iconic!
Favour Ofili
Nigerian track star Favour Ofili made a remarkable Olympic debut when she secured a spot in the 200m semi-final with an incredible performance, crossing the finish line in 22.24 seconds to claim the top spot. Ofili surpassed Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, who completed the race in second place with 22.28 seconds, and Gina Bass-Bitta, who earned third place with 22.84 seconds.
21-year-old Favour Ofili went on to the 200m Paris Olympics final, making her the youngest competitor in the race and was only 0.04 seconds behind bronze medalist Brittany Brown, ending up being the 6th overall winner in the competition. It is certain that this is only the beginning for this young, spirited woman. The world watched as she called out the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) and the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) for failing to enter her for the Olympics Women’s 100 metres race, despite the fact that she not only qualified but also missed the same opportunity at the Olympics 2020 due to the administrative errors of same national sports bodies. Still, she rose above the challenges and gave a stellar performance despite being stressed by NOC and AFN a few days into her race.
Mary Moraa
Mary Moraa is a 24-year-old Kenyan middle-distance runner. She competed in the women’s 800m event at the Paris 2024 Olympics, finishing third place and securing a bronze medal with a time of 1:57.42. This achievement marked an improvement from her performance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she did not advance past the semi-finals.
As a child, Moraa used to run barefoot to school and back, covering about 12 kilometres. She won all the short-distance races at school and played football as a midfielder. Thanks to her athletic talent, she enrolled in high school and went on to win all the school championship sprint races. She is a 2022 Commonwealth Games champion.
Moraa’s story hasn’t always been one of victory. She lost her parents at the tender age of 2. In 2019, shortly after switching from 400-meter racing, she was on the verge of quitting middle-distance running. At that time, Moraa had a difficult start winning 800-meter race competitions, but her friends encouraged her not to lose hope—solid advice!
Despite the progress made by African female athletes, many of the challenges that slow women’s progress in sports still persist, including lack of equal pay, discrimination and poor training conditions. Our only hope is that the Governments of African Nations do better for these women. It is seriously disheartening seeing Africans representing non-African countries only because they didn’t receive adequate support from their home country.
Nevertheless, the progress of African female athletes, in spite all these avoidable challenges, remains laudable. In the last Olympics held in Tokyo, African women won 17 medals. Now, the world’s second-largest continent is on a standstill as we watch, wait, and hope to collect even more in Paris.
