Eyeni and Yedagne deliver double recurve gold for Côte d’Ivoire at home

It was a day of double delight for host nation Côte d’Ivoire as they claimed both recurve men’s and women’s individual gold medals at the Abidjan 2025 African Archery Championships.

Following the morning team finals – where the Ivorians also secured gold in recurve women, recurve under-18 men and barebow mixed team categories – Pretoria 2022 African Champion Anne-Marie Yedagne entered the recurve women’s final backed by a vociferous crowd, though perhaps the underdog based on qualifications.

The 22-year-old had posted a surprising 579 in Friday’s qualification round, leaving her seeded seventh, while her opponent, 18-year-old Roua Ben Abdelkader, had claimed top seed with a 610.

Could Yedagne repeat her teenage triumph from Pretoria? She certainly did.

Her shooting was not flawless, but Ben Abdelkader’s nerves appeared to hinder her throughout. In the opening set, Yedagne scored 25, while her opponent struggled with 20. After a quick discussion with her coach and an adjustment to her sight, the Tunisian improved, scoring 27, 26, 24, 29 in the following four sets.

With Yedagne leading 5-3 into the fifth set, her 24 points forced a shoot-off – the sixth of the day at Stade Robert Champroux de Marcory.

In the decisive moment, Ben Abdelkader dropped a left eight, while Yedagne landed a nine, prompting raucous celebrations from the Ivorian crowd and teammates. Overcome with emotion, Yedagne wiped away tears, finally experiencing the joy of winning at home.

The celebrations continued as Franck Eyeni defeated Tokyo 2020 Olympian Mohamed Hammed 6-2 in the recurve men’s final – another Côte D’Ivoire versus Tunisia showdown.

Eyeni, who had narrowly missed gold in Pretoria 2022 to Wian Roux, remained composed, smiling quietly as victory was confirmed.

Côte D’Ivoire’s individual recurve triumphs brought their gold medal haul to six, and 15 medals overall, marking them as the most successful nation in Abidjan. 

Eyeni’s victory concluded these 2025 African African Championships.

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Champions: 2025 African Championships

Full results on the event page.

• Recurve men: Franck Eyeni, Côte d’Ivoire
• Recurve women: Anne-Marie Yedagne, Côte d’Ivoire
• Compound men: Adrien Charoux, Mauritius
• Compound women: Nora Elsabagh, Egypt
• Barebow men: Johannes Hugo Rossouw, South Africa
• Barebow women: Gloria Kitali, Kenya

Under-18 and para open categories were also contested in Abidjan.

Medal table: 2025 African Championships

Countries with at least one gold medal listed.

1. Côte d’Ivoire: 15 (6 gold, 6 silver, 3 bronze)
2. Egypt: 5 (3 gold, 2 silver)
3. Algeria: 5 (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
4. Mauritius: 4 (3 gold, 1 bronze)
5. Kenya: 3 (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
5. Guinea: 3 (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
6. South Africa: 2 (1 gold, 1 bronze)
7. Senegal: 1 (1 gold)
 
Archers from twelve countries collected the 48 medals (18 gold, 18 silver, 12 bronze) awarded at the 2025 African Championships. Four para archers across two competition categories also competed.