Top 10 Athletes In Africa

This posts acknowledges who I believe to be the top 10 athletes in Africa, as well as their importance to Africa and history.

10. 10. Mohammed Gammoudi

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Mohammed Gammoudi

Mohammed Gammoudi was the first Tunisian medalist, as well as the country's first Olympic champion. He is attributed with winning 4 of the nation's 7 Olympic medals through 2010. He has won 3 military world titles. Gammoudi has also won 11 Maghreb championships, as well as 18 Tunisian championships in Cross Country. He won the 5k in 1968, was the runner up in 1964 for the 10k, and in 1968 earned a bronze medal in the 10k. Gammoudi also won the international cross country meet.

"Mohammed Gammoudi." SR Olympic Sports. Web. 29 July 2015.

9. 9. Amantle Monthso

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Amantle Montsho

Amantle Montsho won the 400m race for women. She is credited with winning the first world medal at the world games after the commonwealth games. She holds the national record for the 400m for both indoors and outdoors. Her best times include 11.60 seconds for the 100m, 22.89 seconds for the 200m, and 49.33 for the 400m races. She is a two-time African Championship gold medalist over 400m. Montsho also represented her county of Botswana in the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. She made the list because she has set many records for Botswana and still holds the championship record for her time in the 2008 African Championship in Athletics.

Rob Nixon, "Apartheid on the Run: The South African Sports Boycott", Transition no. 52 (1991): 87.

8. 8. Ahmed Hassan

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Ahmed Hassan

Ahmed Hassan is a member of the Egypt Club. He has played in 8 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments for Egypt. Four of which he won, in 1998, 2006, 2008, and 2010. In 2006, he scored 4 goals in 6 matches. Hassan was also named the best player of the tournament after winning his second title and Egypt's fifth title. He is considered to be the most capped male player for any country. Also holds the record for most Africa Cup of Nations won by any player. He made the cut because his soccer record is outstanding, and he has also brought a lot of attention to Egypt and their club.

McKenzie, Sheena. "Soccer Star Hassan: Egypt Is in a 'Dark Tunnel'". CNN. 11 Apr. 2012. Web. 29 July 2015. .

7. 7. Kipchoge Keno

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Kipchoge Keno

Kip Keino paved the way for Kenyan runners. In 1968, he set the world record in the 1500 meter race. He is also known for setting world records for both the 3000, and 5000 meter races. He has won four olympic gold medals. In 1972, at Munich, he won the silver medal for the 1500 meter race. In the same year, he also won a gold medal for the 3000 meter race. Historically, Kipchego Keno has set the standards for Kenyan runners very high. In the 1968 Olympics, he won the race by a margin or 20 meters, which at the time was a very impressive margin, because at the time it was the widest margin of victory for that event in Olympic history.

Michael Gorra, "Tact and Tarzan", Transition no.52 (1991):87.

6. 6. Kenenisa Bekele

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Kenenisa Bekele

Bekele is an Ethiopian distance runner. He is a three time Olympic champion in both the 5,000 and the 10,000 meter race. He set a record for the 5,000 meter race with a time of (12:37:35). He also set a record for the 10,000 meter race with a time of (26:17:53) in 2004 and 2005 respectively. He had won 5 gold medals from outdoor world championships. He is considered one of the greatest male distance runners of all time. His marathon debut was in 2014 at the Paris Marathon, he win with a time of (2:05:03).

"Kenenisa Bekele". Runners World. Web. 29 July 2015. .

5. 5. Haile Gebrselassie

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Haile Gebrselassie

Haile Gebrselassie is currently being sponsored by adidas. He is a two-time Olympic champion. He broke 61 Ethiopian national records, as well as set 27 world records. In 2008, he won the Berlin Marathon with a world record time of 2:03:59 which still stands as the masters age group world record. In 1998 he set records for both the 5,000 and the 10,000 meter races. He is considered one of the greatest distance runners in history.

Matt Fitzgerald, "Run", The Mind-Body Method of Running by Feel, (Colorado, 2010): 145.

4. 4. Yaya Toure

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Yaya Toure

Yaya Toure was the first Ivorian to be signed by Barcelona, where they paid around 9 million pounds in 2007. He won Successive African Football of the year prizes in 2011 and 2012. He was named in the PFA Premier League Team of the year in 2012. Currently his best season was the 2013-2014 season where he scored a total of 24 goals.

42 Yaya Toure. (2015). 29 July 2015.

3. 3. Samuel Eto'o

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Samuel Eto'o

Samuel Eto'o has won Italian and Spanish league titles with Inter Milan and Barcelona. He has also won two African Cup of Nations Championships.He won the gold medal for Cameroon in the 2000 Olympics. He currently holds a record of over 350 lifetime goals. Eto'o is the all time leading scorer in the history of the African Cup of Nations. He has also won three European champions league titles. While playing with the Mallorca club in 2003, his record helped him achieve the first of three straight African Player of the Year Awards.

"Cameroon: Samuel Eto'o", Austin Ness (2013), World Cup 2014, Soccer Politics Blog, Duke University,29 July 2015,

2. 2. Abebe Bikila

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Abebe Bikila

Abebe Bikila was the first ever to win a gold medal in the Olympic Marathon. He won consecutively in the 1960 and 1964 Olympics. In the 1960 Olympics, he ran without shoes. In the 1964 Olympics, he won the race 4 minutes ahead of everyone else, and the race was only 40 days after having his appendix removed. His reasoning behind not wearing shoes was to show that his home country of Ethiopia "...has always won with heroism and determinism".

Rob Nixon, "Apartheid on the Run: The South African Sports Boycott",Transition no.58 (1992): 78.

Gennaro, Michael. Class Lecture. 28 July 2015.

1. 1. Didier Drogba

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Didier Drogba

He is known as the Ivory coasts all time top scorer with 65 goals in 105 international appearances. He has won 4 premier league titles with the London club. Drogba was named the African Footballer of the Year two times, in 2006 and 2009. He signed his first pro contract at age 21. He is often referred to as the "Ultimate Big Game Player" for his record of scoring 10 goals in 10 finals winning 10 trophies at club level. He also helped Chelsea's club win their first league title in fifty years.

Chowdhury, S.(2015, July 28). Didier Drogba, Steven Gerrard, Lampard... is the best MLS XI. 29 July 2015. .