The 12 Greatest African Athletes in Order

Because he started the running revolution in Kenya and E. Africa.

I definitely think that Mohammed Gamoudi (Tunisia) deserves to be ranked somewhere on such a top 10 list. People seem to forget how good he was and for how long a span of time.

Kipkem wrote:

The 12 Greatest African Athletes in Order

Rank First Name Last Name Country

1 Kipchoge Keino Kenya

2 Haile Gebraiselaise Ethopia

3 Henry Rono Kenya

4 Said Aouita Morrocco

5 Hicham El Guerroudj Morrocco

6 Kenenesia Bekele Ethopia

7 Paul Tergat Kenya

8 Daniel Komen Kenya

9 Moses Kiptanui Kenya

10 Noureddine Morceli Algeria

11 Wilson Kipketer Kenya (now Dane)

12 Abebe Bekila Ethopia

Who have I left out or rather name your list in order.

Great list, I just wasn't sure about Kip Keino and Rono being so high up. I've only heard about those two, but were they better than Aouita with his incredible range?

I'd put Kiptanui ahead of Komen for winning all those WCs and going sub 8 first I think. Put in the could've/should've/would've category Komen and Kipketer for golds in atlanta in '96. Kiptanui had many great years, Komen just a few.

I'd like Morceli higher up for all those WCs, one Oly gold and ranked number 1 all those years in a row.

Since it's not limited to track, Ngugi was also a stud with 5 cross golds and one Oly gold but maybe he's on the second team.

Trudat some Africans Atheletes that deserve to be mentioned are Frankie Fredricks, John Ngugi, Wolde, Khalid Skah, Richard Chelimo, Noah Ngeny (what happened to him), Ibrahim Hussein and Moses Tanui (10000)

Noah Ng'eny doesn't make this elite team.

He only has one world record which still stands- the 1000m record and a 1500m olympics gold. That is about it. He was great when he reigned but had he continued, he'd be a force to reckon with.

KipKem, your list is good. The only tricky thing is whether those who revolutionised running like Bikila, Keino, e.t.c. should be ranked higher than let's say Bekele who is still in the nascent stage of his illustrious career. We also had Samwel Matete of Zambia.

What about John Ngugi?

1. Haile Gebreselasse ETH-the greatest

2. Hicham El Gerrouj MOR-

3. Kip Keino KEN

4. Paul Tergat KEN-if not for haile, he'd be the greatest.

5. Kenesia Bekele ETH

6. Moses Kiptanui KEN

7. Daniel Komen KEN-awesome.

8. Noureddine Morceli ALG-if not for el g we'd still talk bout him.

9. Wilson Kipketer KEN

10.Said Aouita MOR

11.Mohammed Gammoudi TUN

12.John Ngugi KEN

13.Abebe Bikila ETH

14.Henry Rono KEN

15.Mamo Wolde ETH

16.Miruts Yifter ETH

(Wild Cards)

17.Josephat Machuka KEN

18.Paul Koech KEN-this guy was everywhere

19.Noah Ngeny KEN

TEAM STANDINGS:

Kenya: 3-4-6-7-9 (12, 14) = 29 pts

Ethiopia: 1-5-13-15-16 = 50

Morocco: 2-10-

Algeria: 8-

Tunisia: 11-

Onlooker, I see you think Haile "the Great" Geb~ is the greatest, but I beg to differ with your list. You have Henry Rono @ #14 you must be out of your mind.

As for me its;

#1 Kipkeino

#2 Haile

#3 Henry Rono (No one will ever do what Henry Rono did)

Here's my top ten:

1. H. Gebreselasse ETH

2. K. Keino KEN

3. H. El Guerrouj MOR

4. A. Bikila ETH

5. K. Bekele ETH

6. S. Aouita MOR

7. P. Tergat KEN

8. W. Kipketer KEN (DEN)

9. N. Morceli ALG

10. J. Ngugi KEN

I can't believe that Bikila wasn't making the top ten in anyone's lists. If you give Keino points for his impact, then Bikila has to be up there.

WTF Ghost--accept the limitation?! It's very gracious of you to stay on topic. Had you started talking about Africa's greatest jai-lai players, I would have had to bust your head on the asphalt road.

Now, it's says in the header greatest African athletes. It's called a premise and it's what you begin a debate with, otherwise you can debate everything under the sun and get nowhere. If the original poster wanted to debate Belgian runners, he would have framed the premise with that instead.

Maria Mutola is a great athlete and in a comprehensive list of both sexes, I would think she would fall in the top 20. Frankly though, African women haven't competed as long as men.

BA wrote:

El G... one world record, the first guy to win 1500/5k OG's ever? or in recent memory at least (nurmi i guess)

Actually 3 WR outdoors (1500, mile, 2k), 2i (1500, mile) for a total of 5. I think also he broke the 2k twice maybe? So does that count as more?

Second man to double up 15/5k, first in the "modern" and professional era though.

I don't understand how anyone can argue with Haile and El G being the 2 greatest..ever. I mean they've completed dominated their events for such a long time, set WR's, won olympic and world championship golds, and even showed range (El G with the 5k and Geb with the marathon).

I ranked Keino high because he started it all. And he had amazing range, olympic success, etc. I'd say he's the question mark on my list if anything.

After the 2 greats I think you gotta look at guys who would be the king (in my opinion) had Geb and El G not exist. And that short list includes Tergat, Morceli, and Komen. Gosh can you imagine all the Gold medals Tergat would have had Haile not been born? In addition to being the all time greatest xc runner. I think we'd all put Tergat #1 for sure.

Oh and then there's the steeple. Kiptanui the greatest of all time by far. Gotta put him in there. In a way he's like Keino in that he made it possible for everyone else.

So...the stuff that Rono did was great. But so was the stuff that everyone else on that list did. I do think guys who were primed in the late 70's early/1980's might have a little bias for Rono (as I do for someone like Komen).

What about Frankie Fredericks of Namibia? He's arguably the best 200m runner ever and ran at a high level for a very long time.

Kipkem:

Great idea ... it really boggles the mind and has stirred some great debate. You could break it down so many ways, too.

African greats by decade, by event, championship winners vs. record-setters, by country (not as fun), legends vs. one-hit wonders. There's plenty of record-setters and world/OG champs that haven't even been mentioned yet.

Hakeem Olajuwon (sp?)

YIFTER THE SHIFTER, double gold 5k-10k in 1980

Abebe Bekila Ethopia-Started it all off, helped all the rest realize they had the mind to be great.

Kipchoge Keino Kenya put forth the idea that no matter where one starts. If they where willing to work really hard they would get where they wanted to go.

10 Noureddine Morceli Algeria-Bar none, the best miler whom has ever lived!, And I am willing to bet the best that will ever live. This guy did not just win he hammerd eveyone else into the ground. And unlike most ran his races to the point of droping. Intresting thing is that he did not show any of the potental that was within hem when he started. Morceli, when at his peak made it a race for number two. Also came back from a very poor proformance at the olimpic games, to win 4 years later true champ. Most off never doged anyone else, never gave a reason why he did not get the job done. And never got a big head about his racing.

Haile Gebraiselaise Ethopia, What is there to say. This guy has won it all. But more then that he is a truly nice person. And enjoys his sport, and his people. I know someone who was running on the a National team a long time ago befor GEB was geb. At the world junor games, and she said that he was one of the best people she had ever meet.

Paul Tergat Kenya, This guy should get equal credit for almost all of gebs world recs. Truly a statesmen makes it clear he works very hard. And one of the few world class runner whom will admite that yes they get scard and have bad days sometimes. Makes it clear that running is really a race vs one's shelf at all levels.

It's next to impossible to compare the best athletes from different eras and come up with a coherent way of ranking their greatness. My list is of African runners who, to my mind, had a major impact on the sport. The order is more chronological than it is evaluative. I wrote out eighteen athletes, but the list I won't make of the best twelve would come from these names.

Abebe Bekila - the first

Mamo Wolde - the heir

Kip Keino - the first to dominate on the track

Ben Jipcho - the next great

Filbert Bayi - the front runner

John Akii Bua - the hurdler

Henry Rono - way ahead of his time

Mirutz Yifter - the kicker

Mike Boit - the first African to break 3.50 in the mile

Said Aouita - the range

Haile Gebraiselaise - unbeatable

Noureddine Morceli - the kicker

Hicham El Guerroudj - the talent

Wilson Kipketer - 800 m. world record

Moses Kiptanui - the water jump

Daniel Komen - the records

Kenenisa Bekele - the heir to Gebraiselaise

Maria Mutola - the first African woman to dominate on the track

what about Lagat