Morocco top at 9th Francophone Games

Morocco came out tops as the ninth edition of the Francophone Games came to a close on Sunday.

The Kingdom of Morocco had 23 gold, 16 silver and 10 bronze medals, totalling 58 to be at the top in the games attended by 88 countries across Africa, Europe, Asia  and  the Americas. It is the equivalent of the Commonwealth Games which feature English speaking countries.

The sporting and cultural games ran from July 28 to August 6. It is the first time that the Kingdom of Morocco which beat Romania to a distant second place finished atop of the medals table.

Romania had a total of 28 medals, a whopping 30 below that of table-topping Morocco.

On the final day alone, Morocco cause a big sensation by winning 23 gold, 16 silver and 19 bronze medals.

The Kingdom, which had never before won so many medals at the Francophone Games before, set a new record, with 42 medals in athletics, eight in judo, five in road cycling, two in wrestling and one in ball juggling.

The Kingdom’s last record was set in Côte d’Ivoire in 2017, with a total of 42 medals (13 gold, 14 silver and 15 bronze).

Another highlight of Moroccan participation : the majority of medals, 34 out of 58 (including 18 gold medals), were won by Moroccan athletes, confirming the important place occupied by women in the national sporting landscape.

Morocco, a member of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, organized the first Jeux de la Francophonie in Casablanca in 1989, where it came third with 21 medals.

The ninth edition brought  together some 2,500 young people aged 18 to 35.