Amadou Dia Ba

Amadou Dia Ba ( El Hadj Amadou Dia Ba ; born September 22, 1958 ) is a retired athlete and the only Olympic medalist in Senegal . With a height of 1.88 his competition weight was 72 kg.

Dia Ba finished third in the 1978 African Games in the high jump . In 1981 he set his personal best with 2.18 m. Then he switched to the 400-meter hurdles . His best performance of 47.23 s from the 1988 Olympic final was an African record at the time and has only been beaten by four Americans and one Zambian to date (as of August 2013).

Olympic games

Amadou Dia Ba participated in the Olympic Games from 1984 to 1992. With the 4 x 400 meter relay , he did not reach the finals in 1984 or 1988. He reached the final of the 400 meter hurdles in Los Angeles in 1984 and was fifth in 49.23. In 1988 in Seoul he won the silver medal in 47.23 behind the American Andre Phillips in 47.19. Edwin Moses finished third in 47.56, who had been unbeaten in international championships since 1976.

In 1992 in Barcelona Dia Ba was eliminated with 49.47 in the lead.

World championships

In 1983 in Helsinki Dia Ba was seventh in the final in 49.61 and fifth in Rome in 1987 in 48.37. In 1991 in Tokyo he was eliminated with 49.77.

classification

So far, two great athletes have competed for Senegal. Amadou Dia Ba is the only Olympic medalist in his country with his silver medal from 1988. In 2001 , Amy Mbacké Thiam won the 400-meter run , claiming Senegal's first ever world title. Objectively, Amadou Dia Ba is the most successful athlete and Amy Mbacké Thiam the most successful athlete in Senegal.

Web links

• Amadou Dia Ba in the database of World Athletics (English)