World Athletics Championships: Botswana drops Nigeria to eighth in African all-time Medal Table

Nigeria may have been the first African nation to win a medal at the inaugural edition of World Athletics’ flagship event, the World Championships, and one of only three to do so in Helsinki, Finland in 1983.

However, the most populous nation in Africa has now fallen from number two in 1983 to eighth among African nations at the end of the 20th edition of the Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

Ajayi Agbebaku won Nigeria and Africa’s first medal, a bronze in the triple jump event in 1983, before Kebede Balcha of Ethiopia and Morocco’s Saïd Aouita won silver and bronze in the marathon and 1500m respectively, six days after the Nigerian.

Interestingly, Kenya was absent from the medal table in Helsinki in 1983 but now sits firmly atop the African standings with an incredible 72 gold medals, including one from a field event, the javelin.

Nigeria won one medal each in 1987, 1995, and 1997; two in 1999, 2013, and 2022 (including Tobi Amusan’s 100m hurdles gold in Oregon); and one each in 2019 and 2025.

Prior to the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Nigeria was seventh on the African all time medal table. However, Botswana overtook Nigeria, pushing it to eighth after winning two gold medals in the men’s 400m and 4×400m relay.

Kenya extended its lead as the most successful African nation at the World Championships, increasing its gold medal count from 65 to 72 after winning seven golds in Tokyo, its second best performance after topping the medal table with nine golds in Beijing in 2015.

Kenya is also the second most successful nation in the world after the USA in the history of the Championships.

Ethiopia, the sixth most successful nation globally, remains second in Africa with 35 golds, followed by Morocco (21st in the world) and South Africa (22nd) with 12 each. Uganda, ranked 32nd globally, is fifth in Africa with seven gold medals.

Algeria, with six golds and ranked 34th in the world, is sixth in Africa, while Botswana, with three golds and ranked 51st globally, is seventh.

Nigeria now sits eighth in Africa and 60th in the world.

Interestingly, Nigeria has dominated the athletics scene in Africa since 1965 when it won the African Games, and has only lost the athletics medal table at the Games twice viz 1973 and 2019.