Kenya finishes seventh at Africa Youth Games

Kenya finished seventh as the curtains came down on the fourth edition of the 2025 Africa Youth Games in Luanda, Angola, on Friday evening.

Kenya garnered a total of 35 medals (seven gold, 11 silver and 17 bronze), with the main contributors coming from athletics, weightlifting and martial arts disciplines.

South Africa finished top with 96 medals – 45 gold, 37 silver and 14 bronze medals – ahead of Algeria with 68 (27 gold, 20 silver and 21 bronze medals).

Egypt was third with 60 medals in 18 gold, 17 silver and 25 bronze, followed by Tunisia with 45 – 13 gold, 12 silver and 20 bronze medals – and Nigeria completed the top five with 29 medals in 11 gold, seven silver and 11 bronze medals.

For Kenya’s case, once again athletics led in the medal haul, accounting for several gold medals.

Kenya dominated in the middle-distance races, winning gold in the boys’ 1500m, 2000m and 2000m steeplechase races and in the girls’ 800 metres.

Part of the silver medals came from the boys’ and girls’ 3000m, confirming the country’s dominance in middle and long-distance races across the globe.

Weightlifting also proved to be crucial to Kenya’s medal haul, with Mercy Kerubo proving to be an iron lady in the discipline after winning three gold medals in her category.

The lifters added three more silver medals through Ian Okinyi, two silver from Lina Amanda and multiple bronze medals in both the boys’ and girls’ competitions.

Team sports and emerging disciplines also made their mark.

Kenya claimed silver in ladies’ golf, beach handball, girls’ taekwondo, and mixed rowing, while bronze medals came from basketball girls, tennis, and fencing.

In combat sports, Kenyan athletes showed resilience and promise.

Medals were won in karate, including bronze in male team kata and individual female kumite, as well as in judo, taekwondo, and boxing, where they reaped two bronze medals.

Kenya finished eighth in boxing after presenting four boxers in the showpiece, and two of them, welterweight Sonia Atieno and bantamweight Clinton Omondi, won bronze medals.

Democratic Republic of Congo won the boxing title with two gold and a silver for three medals, ahead of Algeria with a silver and bronze (two), Nigeria, hosts Angola, Tunisia, Ghana, Senegal and Kenya, while Mauritius, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon and Namibia finished with no medals.

During the event, boxers from North African countries and those from DR Congo were superior to most of their opponents.

National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) president Shadrack Maluki was impressed with the teams’ performance, saying it reflected sustained investment in youth development.

“This performance shows that our future is bright. These young athletes have competed with courage and discipline, and finishing seventh in Africa is a strong statement for Kenya. Our responsibility now is to protect and nurture these talents,” Maluki said.