Feryal Abdelaziz
Feryal Ashraf Abdelaziz (born 16 February 1999) is an Egyptian karateka and the first female Egyptian to have won a gold medal at the Olympic Games. She won the gold medal in the women’s +61 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. When she was seven she took up karate in Cairo.
She studied at The British University in Egypt and trained to become a pharmacist.
She won one of the bronze medals in her event at the 2019 African Karate Championships held in Gaborone, Botswana. She represented Egypt at the African Games held in Rabat, Morocco and she won the silver medal in the women’s kumite 68 kg event.
In June 2021, she qualified at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Paris, France to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
In November 2021, she won the gold medal in the women’s team kumite event at the 2021 World Karate Championships held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She also competed in the women’s 68 kg event.
She won the gold medal in the women’s 68 kg event at the 2022 Mediterranean Games held in Oran, Algeria. In the final, she defeated Silvia Semeraro of Italy.
Raphael Botsyo Nkegbe
Raphael Botsyo Nkegbe (born 2 July 1979) is a Paralympic athlete from Ghana who started his Para athletics career competing for Ghana in 2003 and since then never looked back.
He has made four appearances at the Paralympics after competing at the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2020 Summer Paralympics.
The leading wheelchair racer in 100m T54 set a new Africa record at the Desert Challenge Games in Arizona, USA while he became the first Ghanaian to qualify for the 2020 Summer Paralympics. He also holds the National Record for 14.62sec. After losing the 50-meter gold, he was challenged to put in more effort to grab gold in the 100 meters.
In 2023, he returned home after a successful tour of the USA where he clinched three gold medals in separate wheelchair racing competitions.
He believes that everyone can do something if they are given the chance or opportunity.
Noemi Alphonse
Noemi Alphonse (born November 23, 1989) is a para-athlete from Mauritius. She has represented her country at many international events and competitions including the Queen’s Baton Relay.
Noemi was born with a limb deficiency and was fitted with a prosthetic leg when she was just eight months old, yet she managed to learn to walk when she was only nine months old. She started her sporting journey at the age of eight when she took up judo to help her deal with the bullying she was experiencing.
She discovered para-sport when she was 19 and since then has made history as the first Mauritian para-athlete to have participated in a final of the Paralympic Games. Noemi competed in two events in the Tokyo Paralympics, during which she set a new African record in the T54 1500m. This accomplishment adds to the list of her achievements including eight national and four area records. In 2019, Noemi was named Sports Personality of the Year and Female Para Athlete of the Year in the physical impairment category at the 2019 National Sports Awards in Mauritius.
She is passionate about not letting disability hold anybody back and wants to improve the integration of sport and para-sport.
Mpumelelo Mhlongo
Mhlongo is a multiple world championship medalist who has a passionate goal to beat his world records in the 100m and long jump when he participates in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. He broke the T44 200m World Record and set the T44 200m, 100m, and long jump Paralympic Games records.
Mpumelelo Mhlongo won the men’s 100m T44 at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships- scooping South Africa’s first gold medal.
Mhlongo lives with constriction ring syndrome and a deformed clubfoot. He has been awarded the City of Cape Town and Western Cape Government Sportsman with a Disability in 2019, 2021, and 2022. In 2020, he was awarded the Western Cape Ministerial Commendation Award for his involvement in community programs that raised funds for the upliftment of disability sports in South Africa.
Hellen Obiri
Hellen Onsando Obiri (born 13 December 1989) is a Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner and the only woman to have won world titles in indoor track, outdoor track and cross country.
Obiri is a two-time Olympic 5,000 metres silver medallist from the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she also placed fourth over the 10,000 metres. She is a two-time world champion after winning the 5,000 m in 2017 and again in 2019, when she set a new championship record. Obiri also took world bronze for the 1,500 metres in 2013 and silver for the 10,000 m in 2022. She won the 3,000 metres race at the 2012 World Indoor Championships, claimed silver in 2014, and placed fourth in 2018. She is the 2019 World Cross Country champion. Obiri triumphed in the 2023 Boston Marathon, her second marathon race. She places fifth in the half marathon on the world’s all-time list.
Obiri is the former Kenyan national record holder for the mile and the 5000 metres. Obiri was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2017.
Obiri proves that you can be great at every distance.
Abedi Ayew Pele
Abedi Ayew (born 5 November 1964), known professionally as Abedi Pele, is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and served as captain of the Ghana national team.
He was the only man to have won the African Player of the Year award three consecutive times (1991–93) and is regarded as one of the greatest African footballers of all time.
Abedi Pelé’s nomadic career began with Real Tamale in Ghana in 1978. He became a member of Ghana’s national team, the Black Stars, which won the African Cup of Nations in Libya in 1982. Abedi Pelé led Saad Club to the Qatar national championship in 1983 and then played for several European clubs between 1986 and 1993; Chamois Niortais, Mulhouse, Marseille, and Lille.
He played a pivotal role in Marseille’s success during his tenure, contributing significantly to their French League titles in 1991 &1992, as well as their historic Champions League triumph in 1993.
Abedi Pelé was one of the first African players to impact club football in Europe and the first to win the CAF award in 1992.
He then played in Italy, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates before retiring in 1998. That same year an appreciative Ghanaian government bestowed upon him its highest honour, the Order of Volta (civil division).
Ayew has the singular honour of participating in more FIFA-organized charity matches than any other African player. Abedi Pele is a member of FIFA’s Football Committee and of the player status committees of both FIFA and CAF.
Abedi Pele was renowned for his attacking prowess, tactical intelligence, and his knack for making decisive plays during crucial moments of the game and has become one of the continent’s most respected and important ambassadors.
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