Tokyo Olympics: African Countries’ Medal Count and Overall Ranking

Which African countries made the medals table? Check out Scholarships for Africans’ breakdown of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics below.

Despite an unprecedented one-year delay, the 2020 Summer Olympics took place in Tokyo, Japan last July 23 to August 8.

The international event gathered the finest athletes from 205 countries and territories, all competing for a total of 33 sports in the official 2021 Olympic program.

African Countries on the Tokyo Olympics Medals Table

Meanwhile, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics saw 54 African countries compete for multi-sport events. Here is the list of the region’s medal count and overall ranking per country:

Kenya

Medal Count: 10
Overall Country Ranking: 19

Kenya bagged four gold, four silver, and two bronze medals for the Tokyo Olympics. Most notably, all medal counts were brought home by Athletics participants.

Emmanuel Korir won in the Men’s 800m final, while Peres Jepchirchir emerged victorious in the Women’s Marathon. Meanwhile, both Eliud Kipchoge and Faith Kipyegon successfully defended their previous Rio Olympic gold medals in the Men’s Marathon and Women’s 1500m, respectfully.

Hellen Obiri and Brigid Kosgei both earned silver for Women’s 5000m and Women’s Marathon. On the other hand, Ferguson Rotich finished second in the Men’s 800m relay, while Timothy Cheruiyot gained the same medal for Men’s 1500m.

Lastly, Benjamin Kigen and Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi both clinched a bronze for the 3000m Steeplechase, in the Men’s and Women’s Division. Overall, Kenya is the highest-ranking African country for this season.

Uganda

Medal Count: 4
Overall Country Ranking: 36

Uganda scored two top spots after Peruth Chemutai dominated the Women’s 3000m steeplechase event and Joshua Cheptegei’s outran athletes in the Men’s 5000m.

Cheptegei swooped in for a second medal, grabbing a silver this time for the Men’s 10000m. In the same event, Jacob Kiplimo landed a bronze medal.

South Africa

Medal Count: 3
Overall Country Ranking: 52

South Africa conquered water sports with their bets Tatjana Schoenmaker and Bianca Buitendag.

Schoenmaker lorded over Swimming events, garnering a gold for the Women’s 200m Breaststroke event and a silver for the 100m category of the same sport.

Meanwhile, Buitendag breezed through the second spot for the Women’s Shortboard event under Surfing.

Egypt

Medal Count: 6
Overall Country Ranking: 54

The country’s sole gold medal for the Tokyo Olympics is also a breakthrough in Egyptian sports history. Feryal Abdelaziz became the first Egyptian woman to win Olympic gold when she topped the podium in karate in the women’s kumite +61kg class.

Bagging Egypt’s only silver was Ahmed Elgendy for the Men’s Individual Modern Pentathlon.

Lastly, the country snatched four bronzes, with Hedaya Malak and Seif Eissa landing third in the Women’s 67kg and Men’s 80kg Taekwondo events, respectfully.

Ethiopia

Medal Count: 4
Overall Country Ranking: 56

Ethiopia breezes through with four medals in Athletics.

The gold was brought home by Selemon Barega in the Men’s 10000m category. Meanwhile, Lamecha Girma landed a close second in the Men’s 3000m Steeplechase.

Gudaf Tsegay and Letesenbet Gidey both earned third place in the 5000m and 10000m categories.

Tunisia

Medal Count: 2
Overall Country Ranking: 58

Eighteen year-old swimmer Ahmed Hafnaoui stunned the crowd with a surprise gold for the Men’s 400m Freestyle Swimming competition. Initially, he ranked No. 16 in the world and was the slowest qualifier for the final race but won Olympic gold with a time of 3:43.36.

On the other hand, Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi snagged silver for the Men’s 58kg Taekwondo event.

Morocco

Medal Count: 1
Overall Country Ranking: 63

Soufiane El Bakkali won Morocco’s first ever gold medal in the Men’s 3000m Steeplechase event. The historic play unfolded as he came in with a timing of 8:08.90 ahead of event favourites Lamecha Girma of Ethopia and Benjamin Kigen of Kenya.

Nigeria

Medal Count: 2
Overall Country Ranking: 74

While Nigeria did not clinch a gold medal for the Tokyo Olympics, they did win a silver and bronze. The awards were brought home by Blessing Oborududu in the Women’s Freestyle 68kg Wrestling event and Ese Brume in the Women’s Long Jump competition.

Namibia

Medal Count: 1
Overall Country Ranking: 77

The country’s sole Olympic medalist, Christine Mboma, won a silver for the Women’s Athletics 200m.

Botswana

Medal Count: 1
Overall Country Ranking: 86

Another country with one medal count, Botswana, took pride in placing third for the Men’s 4x400m relay. The team was composed of Isaac Makwala, Bayapo Ndori, Zibane Ngozi, and Baboloki Thebe.

Burkina Faso

Medal Count: 1
Overall Country Ranking: 86

In the nation’s tenth Olympic appearance, Burkina Faso has finally earned its first Olympic medal, courtesy of triple jump athlete Hugues Fabrice Zango.

Zango’s jump of 17.47m earned him a bronze medal at the the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, the first Olympic prize ever awarded to the West African nation of Burkina Faso.

Ivory Coast

Medal Count: 1
Overall Country Ranking: 86

The Ivory Coast finished strong with a bronze in Taekwondo Women’s 67kg brought by Ruth Gbagbi. She matched the bronze she won in Rio as she beat Brazil’s Milena Titoneli 12-8.

In Rio, Gbagbi became the first Ivorian woman to win an Olympic medal and she has now become the first Ivorian overall to win two medals.

Ghana

Medal Count: 1
Overall Country Ranking: 86

Despite the single medal count, Ghana celebrated another momentous event in Olympic history.

Boxer Samuel Takyi has won a Men’s Featherweight Boxing bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Ghana’s first podium finish in 29 years.

African Countries’ Athlete and Medal Chart

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