Côte d’Ivoire swept the 200m titles on the final day of the 2026 African Athletics Championships, with Cheickhna Traore and Maboundou Koné delivering a golden finish for the West African nation in Accra on Sunday (17 May).
Paris 2024 Olympian Koné stunned a strong field to secure her first individual continental title, crossing the finish line in 23.35 seconds on a cloudy evening in Ghana’s capital.
The 29-year-old had won silver in the event two years ago in Douala and narrowly missed out on a podium finish in the 100m earlier in the week.
But in the 200m final, she produced a strong start and powered through the home straight to take victory.
After the race, Koné paid tribute to Ivorian sprint legends Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith and Murielle Ahouré for inspiring her athletics journey.
“It feels good to be able to win this title,” Koné told Olympics.com.
“Marie and Murielle have been representing the country for so long at the highest level and it feels amazing to be able to follow in their footsteps as well. I’m really happy,” she added.
Nigeria’s Rosemary Chukwuma, who entered the race as favourite, and Liberia’s Symone Darius both clocked 23.59s, with Chukwuma awarded silver and Darius taking bronze.
Chukwuma leaves the championships with two individual silver medals in the 100m and 200m, in addition to a gold medal in the women’s 4x100m relay.
“It’s a mixed feeling to be honest, because I really wanted that individual gold as well, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be at these championships,” she said after the race.
“We will keep working. It’s a long season ahead with the Commonwealth Games to come, so we will see.”
Cheickna Troare lives up to expectation
Cheickna Traore arrived in the men’s 200m final as the favourite and lived up to expectations, cruising to victory in 20.31 seconds to secure his first individual continental sprint title at the African Championships.
The 26-year-old had already shown his impressive form on Friday (15 May), anchoring Côte d’Ivoire to a historic first-ever men’s 4x100m relay gold at the championships.
He also looked dominant throughout the early rounds of the 200m, establishing himself as the athlete to beat heading into the final.
Running out of lane seven, Traore produced a strong bend and maintained his advantage through the home straight to comfortably seal victory.
“It feels good,” he told Olympics.com.
“Right when we arrived here, my body has been responding well in every race and I knew I had it in me to pull it off and I’m glad I did,” he added.
Botswana’s Phaezel Selepe claimed silver in 20.42s, while South Africa’s Mihlali Xotyeni took bronze after clocking 20.56s.
read more: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/african-athletics-championships-2026-cheickna-traore-maboundou-kone-win-200m-titles
