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Taekwondo, a sport increasingly practiced on the African continent. Photo: African Games

Discipline born in South Korea, taekwondo is more and more popular in Africa, especially since the gold medal of the Ivorian Cheick Cissé at the Rio Olympics in 2016. About 300 high-level practitioners from across the continent are present in Rabah for the African Games. Reportage.

From our special envoy to Morocco,

Admittedly, it's not like football. But over a large part of the African continent, Taekwondo is a martial art from South Korea.

In Dakar, Niamey, Libreville, Bangui, Kinshasa or even in Abidjan, without forgetting Egypt and the Maghreb countries, we practice this sport that became Olympic in 2000 in Sydney.

Cheick Cissé, the model

The biggest success for African taekwondo remains for the moment the huge performance of the Ivorian Cheick Cissé, who won gold in 2016 in Rio during the Olympic Games. Her compatriot Ruth Gbagbi, 25, won the bronze medal in Brazil. The Abidjan woman had become the world champion the following year in taekwondo country.

After the practice of the round ball, taekwondo is now one of the major sports in Ivory Coast. Hundreds of young children want to be like the "Great Cheick Cisse", the first athlete in the country to have played the national anthem at the Olympics. Taekwondo was introduced in 1968 in Côte d'Ivoire, the precursor of the discipline on the continent.

Another champion, the Nigerian Issoufou Alfaga Abdoul Razack. Thanks to the martial arts fists, he was named Officer of the Order of Merit for winning the silver medal also in Rio in 2016.

Four years earlier, Gabon's Anthony Obame won the first African Olympic medal in London. Precursor, the world champion and double champion of Africa was then welcomed as a hero in Libreville and made Knight of the National Order of Merit. Today, African taekwondo rivals that of Asia, America and Europe.

Sadikh Ababacar Soumaré, African champion 2018 in Morocco in Agadir, defeating the " big man " Cheick Cissé, argues that taekwondo is very popular in Senegal. " I hope that as in Rio, someone can imitate Cissé at the Tokyo Olympics next year ," he murmurs.

Daba Modibo Keïta Reference

Malian Seydou Fofana also points to the popularity of this sport on the side of Bamako. His model: Daba Modibo Keita, nicknamed the gladiator, one of the most respected athletes in the country with his two titles of world champion (Beijing 2007 and Denmark in 2009). " We want to follow his trail, says the vice-champion of Africa. Taekwondo is a complete sport more and more practiced at home . At the time, Daba Modibo Keïta was awarded an IOC scholarship to train in the United States. He had the honor of being Mali's flag bearer for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Not yet very developed, the discipline even reaches Djibouti on the Horn of Africa. National coach Amedh Said Oufkir explains that taekwondo has been practiced for about three years. " I have the project with the Djiboutian Olympic Committee to evolve the practice to hope one day sent an athlete to the Games. At the moment, we have about 150 practitioners and I would like the African Games to make me want to practice my sport in Djibouti ", says the one who followed his coaching training in Germany.