1965 All-Africa Games
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Host city | Brazzaville, Congo |
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Opening | 18 July 1965 |
Closing | 25 July 1965 |
Opened by | Alphonse Massemba-Débat |
Lagos 1973 → |
The 1st All-Africa Games (French: 1ers Jeux africains), also known as Brazzaville 1965, was a multi-sport event played from 18 to 25 July 1965, in Brazzaville, Congo.
History
The first games to open to the entire African continent occurred a full forty years after they were first envisioned. Pierre de Coubertin, had proposed the first African Games be held in Algiers, Algeria in 1925. The games were never organized. Four years later, Alexandria, Egypt had almost completed preparations for the African Games of 1929 when the colonial powers stepped in to cancel the games, weeks before they were to begin. The colonizers felt the games might serve to unite Africa, and help them break free from their colonial status. The idea of a continental games languished for a time until regional games in West Africa in the early sixties paved the way for the first continental games to be held in July 1965.
Foreshadowing what was to become accepted protocol at major international games, and reflecting the continent's relative political instability, the Congo-Brazzaville Army was on high alert throughout the games for "malcontents" and "counter-revolutionaries". All highways in and out of Brazzaville were patrolled by armored vehicles and all cars within the city, except for games participants and journalists, were stopped and inspected at major checkpoints.
2500 athletes from 29 nations marched in to the stadium. Avery Brundage, the IOC president attended the games as the IOC's chief observer.
The games' success was due in a large part to the emerging African stars, such as Wilson Kiprugut Chuma (silver medalist in the Tokyo 800 meters), Mohammed Gammoudi (silver medalist Tokyo, 10,000 meters), and Kip Keino, Naftali Temu and Mamo Wolde, who would all win medals three years later at the Mexico City Olympic Games.
Men competed in ten sports, women just two; athletics and basketball.
The top medal winning nation was the United Arab Republic, at one time a political union of Egypt and Syria.*
- (It is not yet known if any athletes from Syria competed or won medals in the African Games)
Participating nations
Among the countries that participated at the 1965 All Africa Games were:
Algeria
Cameroon
Chad
Central African Republic
Republic of the Congo
DR Congo
Ivory Coast
Ethiopia
Gabon
Ghana
Kenya
Madagascar
Mali
Niger
Nigeria
Senegal
Sudan
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
United Arab Republic
Upper Volta
Zambia
Benin (Dahomey)
Sports
- Athletics
- Boxing
- Cycling
- Judo
- Tennis
- Swimming
- Football (Soccer)
- Basketball
- Volleyball
- Handball
Medal table
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() | 17 | 10 | 3 | 30 |
2 | ![]() | 9 | 6 | 4 | 19 |
3 | ![]() | 8 | 11 | 4 | 23 |
4 | ![]() | 6 | 3 | 7 | 16 |
5 | ![]() | 5 | 2 | 5 | 12 |
6 | ![]() | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 |
7 | ![]() | 2 | 3 | 6 | 11 |
8 | ![]() | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
9 | ![]() | 1 | 6 | 2 | 9 |
10 | ![]() | 1 | 5 | 6 | 12 |
11 | ![]() | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
![]() | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | |
13 | ![]() | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
14 | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
15 | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
16 | ![]() | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
![]() | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | |
18 | ![]() | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
19 | ![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Totals (23 entries) | 55 | 59 | 69 | 183 |
Athletics
Several athletes, all male, won more than one event:
- Gaoussou Koné, Côte d'Ivoire (100 metres and 200 metres)
- Wilson Kiprugut, Kenya (400 metres and 800 metres)
- Kipchoge Keino, Kenya (1500 metres and 5000 metres)
- Samuel Igun, Nigeria (high jump and triple jump)
In addition, Senegal won both relay races for men (4x100 metres and 4x400 metres).
Women were only allowed to compete in 100 metres, 80 metres hurdles, high jump, long jump, javelin throw, and 4 x 100 metres relay.
Soccer
The soccer tournament was won by the host country Congo, their only gold medal at the Games.
Gold: | Silver: | Bronze: |
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External links
- Athletics results - gbrathletics.com
- v
- t
- e
- Brazzaville 1965
- Lagos 1973
- Algiers 1978
- Nairobi 1987
- Cairo 1991
- Harare 1995
- Johannesburg 1999
- Abuja 2003
- Algiers 2007
- Maputo 2011
- Brazzaville 2015
- Rabat 2019
- Accra 2023
- Cairo 2027
- Kinshasa 2031