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Egypt looks strong as Olympic place race begins at African champs

9 November 2023

Nabeul, Tunisia

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Archer at the African Archery Championships

Egyptian archers took three of the top four recurve men’s seeds and qualified a recurve women second on the opening day of competition at the African Championships in Tunisia – but it was the home nation’s Rihab Elwalid (636) and South Africa’s Werner Potgieter (652) that claimed poles.

This event acts as the sole continental qualifying competition for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Six spots for African nations are available, in the individual and mixed team events.

The country that wins the mixed team title will receive one men’s and one women’s quota spot.

Then the top two recurve men and top two recurve women in the individual competitions will also secure places for their nations.

The situation gets a little more complicated if a country is in a position to receive both mixed team and individual places – as a maximum of one place per nation can be awarded in Nabuel. In this case, the mixed team takes priority and the next on the individual list will receive the place.

With the top seed in the recurve mixed team event and so many individuals in the upper end of the bracket, Egypt looks like a strong favourite to book slots for Paris.

Read our guide to Olympic qualification.

The majority of athletes competing in Tunisia – some 76 of the 92 total – are taking part in the recurve events.

A much smaller compound (12 archers) competition and a two-archer barebow tournament are running alongside. Both divisions are emerging in the African continent and, while few of the athletes competing in these championships are well-known internationally, the sport’s continued growth is reliant on the archers’ exposure to elite competition.

Mauritian compound men seeded first, second and third, led by Dominique Koo Moy-Sing’ 670.

In a separate para competition, Aliou Drame of Senegal posted a 644-point round.

Competition continues on Friday with eliminations in Tunisia.

All Olympic places are expected to be awarded alongside the African continental champion titles on Sunday.