39 medals, Kenya on top, Algeria's surprise showing... What are the takeaways from Paris 2024 for Africa?

Overall performance of African nations at the 2024 Olympics

Kenya (17th in the world, 1st in Africa): Kenya once again showed its dominance in athletics with 4 gold medals, 2 silver and 5 bronze. Among the standout performances were those of Beatrice Chebet, who won gold over 5000m and 10 000m, cementing her status as the queen of the distance events. Emmanuel Korir also confirmed his Olympic title by winning gold in the men's 800m.

Algeria (39th in the world, 2nd in Africa): Algeria enjoyed a historic Games thanks to Kaylia Nemour, who won gold on the uneven bars, becoming the first African woman to win a medal in gymnastics. The success is an important milestone for the development of gymnastics on the continent. Alongside Nemour, Imane Khelif won gold in boxing in the -66kg category.

South Africa (44th in the world, 3rd in Africa): with 1 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals, South Africa were carried by athletes such as Tatjana Smith, who took gold and silver in the 100m and 200m breaststroke respectively, confirming her status as South Africa's best swimmer. In athletics, the 4x100m relay team led by Akani Simbine took silver, a first for the African continent.

Read more: 2024 Olympics: who will be the best African nation?

Ethiopia (47th in the world, 4th in Africa): Tamirat Tola won the country's only gold medal at these 2024 Games, in the men's marathon, further burnishing Ethiopia's legendary tradition in the distance events. However, with just 4 medals (1 gold, 3 silver), Ethiopia did not fully live up to expectations, especially after their historic performances at previous editions.

Egypt and Tunisia (52nd in the world, 5th in Africa): Egypt shone in weightlifting thanks to Sara Ahmed, who won gold in the -76kg category, while Tunisia were carried by Khalil Jendoubi, who won bronze in taekwondo.

Botswana, Uganda, Morocco (55th in the world, 7th and 9th in Africa): Letsile Tebogo caused a sensation by taking the Olympic title in the 200m final, becoming the first African to win gold over that distance. It was a huge moment for Botswana and well beyond. For his part, Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei won gold in the 10 000m, claiming the one title missing from his impressive record and consolidating his status as the best distance runner of his generation. For Morocco, Soufiane El Bakkali took gold in the 3000m steeplechase, confirming his Tokyo title and his supremacy in the discipline, while the football team won bronze, beating Egypt in the third-place play-off.

Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Zambia (84th in the world, 10th in Africa): David da Pina made history for Cape Verde by winning the country's first-ever medal, a bronze in boxing. Bronze was also the medal collected in taekwondo by Cheick Sallah Cissé, the Olympic champion at Rio 2016. It went some way to softening the disappointment caused by the injury to Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith, a leading medal hope, in the women's 100m final. Zambia, meanwhile, were put in the spotlight by Muzala Samukonga, who won bronze in the 400m, defying all predictions.

The main disciplines that brought in medals

Athletics: as expected, athletics remains Africa's main source of medals. The feats of Faith Kipyegon, Emmanuel Korir, Joshua Cheptegei, and Soufiane El Bakkali show that the distance and middle-distance events are still the preferred territory of African athletes. It is a stronghold, however, that is starting to be challenged by the USA and European nations.

Gymnastics: the historic gold medal won by Kaylia Nemour in gymnastics was a landmark moment for Algeria and for the whole African continent. It is an even more powerful symbol given that the gymnast went through a painful episode with the French Athletics Federation, which led her to represent Algeria, with the success we now know.

Swimming: Tatjana Smith confirmed her talent, although overall expectations for South Africa in this discipline were higher. With her two medals in the bag, she somewhat masked the country's decline in the sport.

Combat sports: Algeria, Tunisia, Cape Verde and Ivory Coast all performed well in combat sports, with medals in boxing and taekwondo, suggesting some good surprises may be in store in the future.

Comparison with previous editions

African nations won a total of 39 medals at these 2024 Games, a slight improvement on some previous editions, but broadly stable. However, the Rio 2016 record was not matched.

Tokyo 2020: at the Tokyo Olympics, Africa had won 37 medals, which means Paris 2024 represents a slight increase in total medals. It points to a certain stability in African performances, even if more medals were expected given the size of the African contingent. But many disappointed or missed the mark, such as Nigeria's Tobi Amusan, the world record holder in the 100m hurdles, who was knocked out in the semi-finals.

Rio 2016: In Rio, African nations had won 45 medals, a record. By comparison, the 39 medals at Paris 2024 represent a slight drop, indicating that, despite some outstanding individual performances, Africa did not reach the heights of Rio even though it had the potential to do so.

London 2012: at the London Games, African nations had won 34 medals, 11 of them gold. Compared with the 39 medals won at these Games, there is inevitably an improvement, even if it is fair to ask whether winning 5 more medals over 12 years is real progress for a whole continent.

The final medal table

Country	World ranking	Africa ranking	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
USA	1	/	40	44	42	126
China	2	/	40	27	24	91
Japan	3	/	20	12	13	45
France	5	/	16	26	22	64
Kenya	17	1	4	2	5	11
Algeria	39	2	2	0	1	3
South Africa	44	3	1	3	2	6
Ethiopia	47	4	1	3	0	4
Egypt	52	5	1	1	1	3
Tunisia	52	5	1	1	1	3
Botswana	55	7	1	1	0	2
Uganda	55	7	1	1	0	2
Morocco	60	9	1	0	1	2
Cape Verde	84	10	0	0	1	1
Ivory Coast	84	10	0	0	1	1
Zambia	84	10	0	0	1	1