The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Niger

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This page contains a list of the greatest Nigerien Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 4 of which were born in Niger. This makes Niger the birth place of the 138th most number of Athletes behind The Gambia, and Costa Rica.

Top 4

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

Photo of Abdoul Razak Issoufou

1. Abdoul Razak Issoufou (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 24.94, Abdoul Razak Issoufou is the most famous Nigerien Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages on wikipedia.

Abdoul Razak Issoufou Alfaga (born 26 December 1994), also known as Razak Alfaga, is a Nigerien taekwondo athlete. When Issoufou was 7, his father forbade him from taking taekwondo after a cousin died from an injury in a fight. After Issoufou moved to an uncle's home in Togo four years later, he eventually got back into the sport by borrowing a friend's dobok. Eventually Issufou managed to get the support from the International Olympic Committee and train outside Africa, moving to the Taekwondo Competence Center in Friedrichshafen, Germany. A gold medalist at the 2015 African Games, Issoufou later got the silver in the African Olympic Qualifiers, enabling him to represent Niger at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He was chosen to be the Nigerien flagbearer at the Parade of Nations. During the taekwondo tournament, Issoufou got to the finals, making him Niger's first medallist since Issake Dabore in the 1972 Summer Olympics. Despite losing the gold to Radik Isayev of Azerbaijan, Issoufou's silver medal was the best result ever by a Nigerien at the Olympic Games. He was the flag bearer for Niger during the closing ceremony. At the 2021 African Taekwondo Championships held in Dakar, Senegal, he won the men's +87 kg event gold medal. He competed in the men's +80 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Aminatou Seyni

2. Aminatou Seyni (b. 1996)

With an HPI of 0.00, Aminatou Seyni is the 2nd most famous Nigerien Athlete.  Their biography has been translated into different languages.

Aminatou Seyni (born 24 October 1996) is a Nigerien track and field sprinter. She has the Nigerien national records for the 200 metres and 400 metres. Seyni competed in the women's 100 metres and 200 metres at the 2019 African Games. She reached the semifinals in the women's 100 metres. She finished in 4th place in the women's 200 metres final. She competed in the women's 200 metres at the 2019 World Athletics Championships. She could not compete in the women's 400 metres due to the IAAF's regulations on testosterone levels for athletes with XY disorders of sex development in women's competition. She competed in the women's 200 metres at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Valentina Cavallar

3. Valentina Cavallar (b. 2001)

With an HPI of 0.00, Valentina Cavallar is the 3rd most famous Nigerien Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Valentina Cavallar (born 7 March 2001) is an Austrian rower. She competed in the women's lightweight double sculls event at the 2020 Summer Olympics. In 2023, she turned to cycling, joining the Arkéa-B&B Hotels professional cycling team in 2024. She made her Women's WorldTour debut at La Flèche Wallonne in that year, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Competing in the three-day Itzulia Women, Cavallar, took the polka-dot mountain jersey on stages one and two (along with the most combative rider award for stage two), but lost it on stage three to Demi Vollering (who was also the overall winner of the race). She also competed in the Tour de France Femmes 2024.

Photo of Tekiath Ben Yessouf

4. Tekiath Ben Yessouf (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 0.00, Tekiath Ben Yessouf is the 4th most famous Nigerien Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Tekiath Ben Yessouf (born 13 September 1991) is a Nigerien taekwondo competitor. She represented Niger at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan.

People

Pantheon has 4 people classified as Nigerien athletes born between 1991 and 2001. Of these 4, 4 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Nigerien athletes include Abdoul Razak Issoufou, Aminatou Seyni, and Valentina Cavallar. As of April 2024, 4 new Nigerien athletes have been added to Pantheon including Abdoul Razak Issoufou, Aminatou Seyni, and Valentina Cavallar.

Living Nigerien Athletes

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Newly Added Nigerien Athletes (2024)

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