"Kenyans win every race. Did you ever see a marathon? A Kenyan wins every time. If you got on a plane for Vegas right now, and I got on a Kenyan, I'd beat you."
- Chris Rock, October 2008
Greetings. As the games of the thirty-second Olympiad begin this weekend in Tokyo, Japan, the pandemic and its after-effects have overshadowed the event. Uganda, fielding a team for the 16th time (the most of any East African nation), has been thrust in the limelight due to the disappearance of weightlifter Julius Sekitoleko. It's easy for one to sympathise with the young lad's plight; he's from a poor background with the financial burden of his family weighing on his shoulders. He took the free transportation the government accorded him to the second largest economy in the world and 'sought greener pastures' whilst there.
The Olympics has on occasion served as a connotation for income disparities; there's a correlation between the largest economies by GDP and the all-time Olympic medal overhaul. At the 2016 edition, 8 of the top 10 countries also boasted of the highest GDP. The United States has led the medals table at seventeen of the twenty-eight Olympic Games' editions held. Large economic resources do guarantee a bigger sports budget and with that comes better facilitation and superior facilities for athletes. With that correlation in mind, is it possible to attain success with less economic resources and can we predict which African country could collect the most medals at the Tokyo Olympics?
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| Len Taunyane and Jan Mashiani at the 1904 Olympics |
The modern Olympics date back to 1896, and at the third edition eight years later South Africa fielded a team of eight athletes. Two Setswana – Len Taunyane and Jan Mashiani – were part of this team. On 30th August 1904, the duo became the first black Africans to compete at the Olympics, finishing 9th and 12th respectively; Taunyane could have finished higher had he not been veered off course by a dog that pursued him midway the race.
More than a century after Taunyane and Mashiani's milestone, each African nation has sent representatives to the Olympics, with varying success. 27 of the 54 African countries are yet to win a medal at the quadrennial showpiece. As with the overall table of Olympic medals, the African countries with the highest medal tally fall in the ten richest economies on the continent. Kenya has secured 103 medals (including 31 gold medals) from the 14 Olympics editions in which they have fielded athletes, making them the most successful African country at the games. The rest of the top 10 includes South Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Cameroon; of which only Zimbabwe ranks outside the fifteen largest economies on the continent.
Meagre resources in any competition call for strategy. The easiest course of action is specialisation; focusing one's resources on a singular activity and subsequently attaining superior technique at said activity. Kenya, despite being wealthy on its home continent, is surpassed on the global stage when it comes to economic wealth. Austria, with a population of less than 9 million, dwarfs the Kenyan economy; on income per capita Kenya is 21 times smaller! The East Africans have more medals despite participating in 13 fewer editions than the Austrians. Kenyan medals however have come from only two categories (Athletics and Boxing), whereas the Austrians have taken medals from 16 different categories.
Country
2016 Medals
All Time Medals
All Time Editions
Medal/Edition
Nigeria
1
25
16
1.5625
Egypt
3
32
22
1.454545
South Africa
10
86
19
4.526316
Algeria
2
17
13
1.307692
Morocco
1
23
14
1.642857
Ethiopia
8
54
13
4.153846
Kenya
13
103
14
7.357143
Ghana
0
4
14
0.285714
Tanzania
0
2
13
0.153846
Angola
0
0
9
0
Uganda
0
7
15
0.466667
The rational economic man instinct comes into play here; resources should be focused on the activities that bring in the most medals. Kenya has only managed medals in Athletics dating back to 1992; their last boxing medal came in 1988. It is only fair that investment in sports concentrates on athletics.
Talent and differences in natural landscape (altitude factor) notwithstanding, economic resources have a role to play in sporting achievement. Nevertheless, the less endowed nations can choose to focus on specific sporting disciplines. Kenya no doubt will lead the African medal haul; they've been averaging seven medals per Olympic edition. If a one Cheptegei secures double gold in Tokyo, Uganda with two golds could finish ahead of some better endowed European nations. The lack of sports specialisation and funding in Uganda however will be a subject for another day.
Ceteris. Paribus.
References
Kasujja, A, (19th July, 2021) Will Africa triumph at the Tokyo Olympics? [BBC Africa Daily Podcast]. 19th July 2021.
Kigongo, I.D., (01st February, 2021). "Sports needs a lot from its legislators". The Daily Monitor.
O’Toole, S., (07th July, 2016). "Story of South Africa's first black Olympians keeps us guessing". Mail & Guardian Online
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