All-Africa Games

The All-Africa Games, sometimes called the African Games or Pan African Games, are a regional multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA). The competing nations must all be from the African continent.

The first Games were held in 1965 in Brazzaville, Congo. The International Olympic Committee granted official recognition as a continental multi-sport event, along with the Pan American Games and Asian Games.

History

Modern Olympics founder Pierre de Coubertin conceived the Pan African Games as early as 1920. The colonial powers who ruled Africa at the time were wary of the idea, suspecting the unifying aspect of sport among African people wouldcause them to assert their independence.

Attempts were made to host the games in Algiers, Algeria in 1925 and Alexandria, Egypt in 1928, but despite considerable preparations taken by co-ordinators, the efforts failed. The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) first African member, Greek-born Egyptian sprinter Angelo Bolanaki, donated funds to erect a stadium, but still the Games were set back for another three decades.

In the early 60's, French-speaking countries of Africa organized the Friendship Games. The Games were organized by Madagascar (1960) and then Ivory Coast (1961). The third games were set for Senegal in 1963. Before they were completed, African Ministers of Youth and Sport met in Paris in 1962; as a few English-speaking countries were already participating, they rechristened the Games as the Pan African Games. The Games were granted official recognition by the IOC as being on par with other continental Games such as the Asian Games and the Pan American Games.

In July 1965, the first games were held in Brazzaville, Congo, now called the All-Africa Games. From 30 countries, around 2,500 athletes competed. Egypt topped the medal count for the first Games.

In 1966, the SCSA (Supreme Council of Sport in Africa) was organized in Bamako; it manages the All-Africa Games. The second edition were awarded to Mali in 1969, but a military coup forced the cancellation of the Games. Lagos, Nigeria stepped in as host for the Games in 1971. Those Games were finally held in 1973 due to the Biafra War, which had just ended in Nigeria.

In 1977, the 3rd Games were scheduled to take place in Algeria, but due to technical reasons, it had to be postponed for a year and was held in 1978. Continuing the pattern, the next Games were scheduled to take place in Kenya in 1983, but were pushed back to 1985 and finally took place in Nairobi in 1987.

The four-year Olympic rhythm has not missed a beat since, and the Games have been organized in Cairo, Harare, Johannesburg, and Lagos. In 2007, Algiers once again hosted, becoming the first repeat host. Lusaka, Zambia is set to host the next edition in 2011. [ [http://www.aag.org.za/background/index.shtml Background] ]

Host cities

The host city of the 2015 All-Africa Games is to be decided soon. Accra, Ghana and possibly Kenya have been mentioned as possible hosts.

All-time medal table

The table below gives an overview of the all-time medal count of the All-Africa Games.

Influence

After hearing about the Pan-African Games whilst on a business trip to Congo, Soviet-Armenian diplomat Ashot Melik-Shahnazaryan got the idea to create the Pan-Armenian Games.

ee also

*Football at the All-Africa Games

References

External links

* [http://www.aag.org.za/background/index.shtml Background] from [http://www.aag.org.za official website]
* [http://sports123.com/afg/ Medal winners in various events]