Team South Africa dominated the 24th African Senior Athletics Championships in Accra, Ghana, claiming 9 gold, 4 silver and 9 bronze medals to retain the continental title they won in Cameroon in 2024. The achievement is all the more remarkable given the organisational failures that overshadowed the event from its opening day.
Team South Africa have retained their status as the continent’s premier athletics nation after dominating the 24th African Senior Athletics Championships at the University of Ghana Stadium in Legon, Accra. The championships, which ran from 12 to 17 May 2026, concluded on Sunday with South Africa topping the medals table with a total of 22 medals including 9 gold, 4 silver and 9 bronze. The haul matched their title-winning performance at the 2024 African Athletics Championships held in Douala, Cameroon.
The achievement is a testament to the depth and quality of South African athletics, particularly given that the event was marred from its opening day by serious organisational failures including broken vaulting poles, athletes going through video footage to determine the men’s 100m medallists after timing system failures, inadequate food, no toilet paper, no air conditioning and the absence of a starter’s gun at various points during the competition.
Gold Medal Performances
South Africa’s gold medals came across a wide range of disciplines, demonstrating the breadth of the country’s athletic talent.
Among the men, shot put specialist Aiden Smith opened South Africa’s gold medal account on Day 1, throwing 20.01 metres to claim victory ahead of Egypt’s Mostafa Amr Ahmed. The 21-year-old University of Johannesburg student’s gold was particularly impressive given he had thrown 20.55 metres at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix just two weeks earlier. Middle distance runner Luan Munnik claimed gold in the men’s 1500m. Valco van Wyk dominated the men’s pole vault, clearing 5.40 metres to win gold in an event that had been severely disrupted by broken poles earlier in the championships. The legendary Luvo Manyonga, the former world champion, claimed gold in the men’s long jump in a performance that underlined his enduring class at continental level.
Among the women, Karabo More claimed gold in the women’s 1500m. Rogail Joseph won the women’s 400m hurdles. Christi Snyman topped the women’s high jump with a best clearance of 1.84 metres, edging Ghana’s Esther Obenewaa who claimed silver with 1.81 metres. Ansume de Beer won the women’s pole vault. Colette Uys claimed gold in the women’s shot put to round off a commanding South African haul.
Bradley Nkoana Shines in the 100m
One of the most exciting performances of the championships came from Bradley Nkoana, the Paris 2024 Olympic relay silver medallist, who claimed silver in the men’s 100m final in a photo finish. Nkoana crossed the line in 10.311 seconds behind Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme, who dominated the field to claim his first continental title at the venue where he had won African Games gold in 2024. Nkoana’s silver was a strong individual performance from one of South Africa’s most exciting sprinting talents, adding to his relay exploits at the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone just two weeks earlier.
Enya Pooler Claims Heptathlon Silver
South Africa’s Enya Pooler delivered one of the most physically demanding performances of the championships, claiming silver in the women’s heptathlon with a final score of 5,255 points. Pooler finished behind Benin’s Odile Ahouanwanou, who won gold with 5,309 points, with Cameroon’s Adele Mafogang taking bronze with 5,227 points. The heptathlon silver underlined South Africa’s strength in the multi-discipline events.
A Title Won Despite the Chaos
What makes South Africa’s retention of the continental title particularly noteworthy is the environment in which it was achieved. The 24th African Senior Athletics Championships will be remembered not only for the performances on the track and field but for the catalogue of organisational failures that accompanied them.
Multiple vaulting poles broke during competition affecting athletes from South Africa, Ivory Coast and Benin. The men’s 100m final required athletes and officials to go through video footage frame by frame to determine the medallists after timing systems failed. Athletes were denied adequate food throughout the competition. Toilet paper was unavailable in athlete facilities. Air conditioning was absent or non-functional in accommodation areas. A starter’s gun was missing during track events at various points.
Ghanaian Member of Parliament Vincent Ekow Assafuah described the event as a national embarrassment and called for urgent intervention to salvage Ghana’s international reputation. The Local Organising Committee issued an apology but critics argued it fell well short of addressing the scale of the failures. The contrast with Botswana’s acclaimed hosting of the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone just two weeks earlier was impossible to ignore.
Through all of it, South Africa’s athletes competed with professionalism, consistency and excellence that set them apart from every other nation on the continent.
What It Means
South Africa’s back-to-back African Championships titles confirm the country’s position as the dominant force in continental athletics. With the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing already on the horizon, and with South Africa having secured qualification for multiple relay events at the World Relays in Gaborone, the momentum within South African athletics heading into the second half of 2026 is exceptional.
From Aiden Smith’s shot put gold to Bradley Nkoana’s sprint silver, from Luvo Manyonga’s long jump gold to Valco van Wyk’s pole vault triumph, South Africa delivered a championship performance that the organisational chaos around them could not diminish.
Editors Note All results referenced in this article are based on official CAA African Senior Athletics Championships records as at 17 May 2026.