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Athletics, boxing, karate, table tennis, taekwondo ... They will liven up the year 2020. RFI.fr has selected ten African athletes to follow particularly in the coming months.
Abdoulrazak Issoufou Alfaga (Taekwondo / Niger)
Olympic vice-champion in 2016, world champion in 2017, multi-medalist in Africa, the Nigerien has a big goal: to win the first gold medal at the Olympic Games in the history of his country. The taekwondo prodigy, now 25, carries all the hopes of his country.
Inès Boubakri (Fencing / Tunisia)
The even years succeed particularly in the Tunisian, in bronze, in foil, at the 2014 and 2018 Worlds, as well as at the 2016 Olympics. Provided that she wins her qualification for Tokyo, the fencer will try to write a 2020 Games once again the history of Tunisian sport.
Chad le Clos (Swimming / South Africa)
Elected swimmer of the year 2018, the South African lived a fairly dull year 2019, due to injuries in particular. Will the great value of African swimming be delivered in time to win Olympic medals for the third time, after London 2012 and Rio 2016?
Ilunga Makabu (Boxing / DR Congo)
The Congolese, who lives and trains in South Africa, must face the Polish Michal Cieslak, in January (the 25?) In Kinshasa, for the king belt of the cruiserweight (less than 90.7 kg) WBC version. He would then become one of the very first Congolese crowned world champions of boxing pro.
Dina Meshref (Table tennis / Egypt)
The boss of African table tennis will she create the sensation in Tokyo? At the 2020 Olympics, the Egyptian will face a cohort of Asian champions, each more fierce than the other. The performance of the Nigerian Aruna Quadri in Rio (quarter-finals) four years ago, however, proves that we must not make complexes.
Lamya Matoub (Karate / Algeria)
Gold medalist at the 2017 World Games and bronze medalist at the 2018 World Championships, the Algerian hopes to be part of it in Tokyo, for the first pairing of her sport, karate, on the program of the Olympic Games. The year 2020 promises to be rich in competition anyway, between the African Championships in Tangier (February 7-9) and the World Championships (November 17-22) in Dubai.
" Reug Reug " (MMA / Senegal)
Senegalese wrestling superstar, Oumar Kâne aka "Reug Reug" impressed during his big professional debut in mixed martial arts (MMA), in December in Dakar, during the ARES FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP 1. His next outing is eagerly awaited by MMA addicts.
Pascal Siakam (Basketball / Cameroon)
When he started in the NBA, the Cameroonian almost appeared as an intruder in the most prestigious basketball league in the world, because of his alleged lack of talent. Four seasons later, the 25-year-old interior became the major franchise player for the defending champions Toronto Raptors. Will it assume this status until the end of the final phase (play-offs) 2020?
Marie-Josée Ta Lou (Athletics / Ivory Coast)
She finished 4th in 100 and 200 meters from the 2016 Olympic Games. Since then, the sprinter has left this immense disappointment behind her to win twice the silver and once the bronze at the World Championships. Her main objective, however, remains the same: to become the second African woman to reach the podium at the Olympic Games, over these distances, after the Nigerian Mary Onyali in 1996 (200 m).
Hugues Fabrice Zango (Athletics / Burkina Faso)
Burkina Faso has never won a medal at the Olympic Games. “HFZ”, one of the rising values of triple-jump, however seems to be ready to enter the history of Burkinabè sport again, next summer in Tokyo. He already did so by taking bronze at the 2019 Worlds in Doha.