The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Côte d'Ivoire

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This page contains a list of the greatest Ivorian Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 7 of which were born in Côte d'Ivoire. This makes Côte d'Ivoire the birth place of the 65th most number of Athletes behind Egypt, and North Korea.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Ivorian Athletes of all time. This list of famous Ivorian Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Ivorian Athletes.

Photo of Gabriel Tiacoh

1. Gabriel Tiacoh (1963 - 1992)

With an HPI of 37.72, Gabriel Tiacoh is the most famous Ivorian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages on wikipedia.

Gabriel Tiacoh (September 10, 1963 – April 2, 1992) was a sprinter from Côte d'Ivoire who specialised in the 400 metres. He is best known for winning his nation's first Olympic medal, in the 400 meters in 1984. A former African record holder, he was the African champion over the distance in 1984 and 1989, as well as being the silver medallist in 1985 and 1988. He competed at the World Championships in Athletics in 1983 and 1987, finishing seventh in the 400 m final at the latter edition. He represented Côte d'Ivoire at the Olympics for a second time at the 1988 Seoul Games, but did not make the final. He died of tuberculous meningitis in 1992 in Atlanta, Georgia at the age of 28. He had a personal best of 44.30 seconds for the 400 m.

Photo of Nelson Évora

2. Nelson Évora (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 36.70, Nelson Évora is the 2nd most famous Ivorian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Nelson Évora GCIH (born 20 April 1984) is an Ivory Coast-born Portuguese track and field athlete of Cape Verdean descent who specializes in the triple jump. Évora is a former outdoor Olympic, World, and European triple jump champion. He has also won a European indoor title and the World indoor tour in triple jump. Évora competes at national level for Portugal and at club level for FC Barcelona. He represented Cape Verde until 2002, when he got Portuguese citizenship in June of that year.

Photo of Murielle Ahouré

3. Murielle Ahouré (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 30.70, Murielle Ahouré is the 3rd most famous Ivorian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Murielle Ahouré-Demps (born 23 August 1987) is an Ivorian sprinter who competes in the 60 meters, 100 m and 200 m. She was a double silver medalist at the 2013 world championships in Moscow. She came second in both the 100 and 200 meters at this event. Ahouré was the gold medallist in the 60 m at the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships. She also won a silver medal at 60 metres event at 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. She was the 2009 NCAA Indoor Champion at 200 metres while running for the University of Miami. Ahouré's personal best at 100 m is 10.78 (Montverde, USA, 2016) and in 200 m 22.24 (Monaco, 2013). She holds African records in 60m and 200 metres indoor. At the 2012 Summer Olympics she placed sixth in the 200 m and seventh in the 100 m. She ran under seven seconds for the 60 metres for the first time in February 2013, becoming the eighth fastest woman ever with her time of 6.99 seconds. In 2018 she won the gold medal in the 60 m at the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships, and broke the African record with a time of 6.97 seconds (sixth fastest woman ever).

Photo of Marie-Josée Ta Lou

4. Marie-Josée Ta Lou (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 28.86, Marie-Josée Ta Lou is the 4th most famous Ivorian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Gonezie Marie Josée Dominique Ta Lou-Smith (née Ta Lou) (born 18 November 1988) is an Ivorian sprinter competing in the 100 metres and 200 m. She finished fourth in the 100 metres and 200 metres finals at the 2016 Olympic Games, missing out on a medal in the 100m by seven-thousandths of a second (0.007). She then won silver medals in the 100 metres and 200 metres at the 2017 World Championships, the latter in the national record time of 22.08 seconds. Her 100 metres best is 10.72 seconds (2022), thus making her the African record holder.

Photo of Leslie Djhone

5. Leslie Djhone (b. 1981)

With an HPI of 27.81, Leslie Djhone is the 5th most famous Ivorian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Leslie Djhone (born 18 March 1981 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast) is a French track and field athlete who competes in the 400 metres and 4 x 400 metres relay. Djhone won the 400 metres gold medal at the 2011 European Indoor Championships and the 400 metres bronze medal at the 2006 European Championships. In the final of the 400m event, he finished 4th at the 2003 World Championships, 5th at the 2007 World Championships, 8th at the 2009 World Championships, 7th at the 2004 Olympics and 5th at the 2008 Olympics. Djhone has also enjoyed some success in the 4x400 metres relay, the highlight being a gold medal each at the 2003 World Championships, 2011 European Indoor Championships and 2006 European Championships. He also won the bronze medal at the 2002 European Championships. Djhone set a new national outdoor record of 44.46 seconds in the semi-finals of the 400 m event at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan. Djhone set a new national indoor record in the 400 m with a run of 45.85 seconds at the 2010 French Athletics Championships, taking 17 hundredths of a second off Stéphane Diagana's 18-year-old mark. In 2011, he won the 400 m (in a new national indoor record time of 45.54 seconds) and the 4 × 400 m relay gold medals at the 2011 European Indoor Championships.

Photo of Cheick Sallah Cissé

6. Cheick Sallah Cissé (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 26.95, Cheick Sallah Cissé is the 6th most famous Ivorian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Cheick Sallah Cissé (born 19 September 1993) is an Ivorian taekwondo athlete. He won the gold medal in the men's heavyweight event at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships held in Baku, Azerbaijan. After winning gold at the 2015 African Games in the men's 80 kg, he represented Ivory Coast at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in the same category. He reached the final of the tournament, competing against Britain's Lutalo Muhammad. Behind by six points to five, Cissé scored with a head-kick in the final second of the match to win the tie 8–6 and take the gold medal. The gold was Ivory Coast's first ever Olympic title, and came on a night where Ruth Gbagbi won a bronze in the women's 67 kg taekwondo, increasing the country's all-time Olympic medals from one to three in one session. He also qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics in the men's 80 kg event.

Photo of Ruth Gbagbi

7. Ruth Gbagbi (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 26.53, Ruth Gbagbi is the 7th most famous Ivorian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Ruth Marie Christelle Gbagbi (born 7 February 1994 in Abidjan) is an Ivorian taekwondo practitioner. She competed in the 67 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics; she was defeated by Hwang Kyung-seon in the preliminary round and eliminated by Helena Fromm in the repechage contest. In the 2016 Summer Olympics, she defeated Farida Azizova to win the bronze medal. She was part of an Ivorian team that included Cheick Sallah Cissé who also won a medal and Mamina Koné. Gbagbi returned in the 2020 Summer Olympics, winning another bronze.

Photo of Lisa Darmanin

8. Lisa Darmanin (b. )

With an HPI of 0.00, Lisa Darmanin is the 8th most famous Ivorian Athlete.  Their biography has been translated into different languages.

Lisa Darmanin may refer to: Lisa Darmanin (politician), Australian senator Lisa Darmanin (sailor), Australian Olympic sailor

Photo of Jiang Huihua

9. Jiang Huihua (b. 1998)

With an HPI of 0.00, Jiang Huihua is the 9th most famous Ivorian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Jiang Huihua (Chinese: 蒋惠花, born 22 January 1998) is a Chinese weightlifter who won a gold medal at the 2015 Houston world championship.

Photo of Tarryn Glasby

10. Tarryn Glasby (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 0.00, Tarryn Glasby is the 10th most famous Ivorian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Tarryn Lombard (née Glasby; born 23 January 1995) is a South African field hockey player for the South African national team.

People

Pantheon has 17 people classified as Ivorian athletes born between 1963 and 1999. Of these 17, 16 (94.12%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Ivorian athletes include Nelson Évora, Murielle Ahouré, and Marie-Josée Ta Lou. The most famous deceased Ivorian athletes include Gabriel Tiacoh. As of April 2024, 10 new Ivorian athletes have been added to Pantheon including Lisa Darmanin, Jiang Huihua, and Tarryn Glasby.

Living Ivorian Athletes

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Deceased Ivorian Athletes

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Newly Added Ivorian Athletes (2024)

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