Senegal’s Aliou Drame became African champion in para compound for the third time in a row at the Oran 2026 African Archery Championships, after wins in Abidjan in 2025 and Nabeul in 2023.
“I’m very happy to have won it again for the third time,” said the Paralympian who competed at Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
“I was really looking forward to it, too. It wasn’t easy, so I couldn’t just boast to myself that I’d be better because you never know. In sports, anything can happen. We can start thinking about the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.”
In the end, it was not a competitive final against Namibia’s De-Villiers Visser, but Drame, who lives and trains in France, was keen to see others push towards the highest levels of the sport. “I have to fight as an African. You always have to look ahead to improve and try your very best to get there.”
In women’s compound, an all-Namibian final saw Jacqueline Coetzee, the champion two years ago in Nabeul, beat top seed Elisabeth Taljaard in a shoot-off after Taljaard fought back from a shaky start and both women scored 128. “At the end of the day, it just comes down to who is the calmest at the end.” said Coetzee.
“It all comes back to basics. Sometimes you need to get yourself up again. It’s never over until that last arrow has landed in the ten. Just keep on fighting.”
There was more good news for Namibia after Jannie Meuwesen beat last year’s winner Adrien Charoux for the compound men’s title, and the pairing of Meuwesen and Taljaard took the compound mixed team title earlier in the day.
