Ibou Faye

Senegalese track and field athlete Ibou Faye specialised in the 400 metres and the 400 metres hurdles, winning more than a dozen medals at international competitions. Faye won his first international gold at the 1989 Jeux de la Francophonie Games as part of the quartet in the 4 × 400 metres relay. He returned to the Francophonie Games in 1994 where he won bronze in the 400 metres hurdles. Sticking with the hurdles, Faye then won gold at the 1995 All-Africa Games and the 1996 African Championships. At the latter he also won gold in the 4 × 400 metres relay, earning himself a place on the Olympic team.

At the 1996 Atlanta Games, Faye just missed out on medal when Senegal finished fourth in the final of the 4 × 400 metres relay. At the Games he also reached the semi-finals of the 400 metres hurdles and had the honour of being his nation’s flagbearer at the Opening Ceremony. After the Olympics he continued to add to his medal haul with another relay gold, along with a bronze in the 400 metres hurdles at the 1998 African Championships. Faye won another gold in the hurdles one year later at the All-Africa Games, securing him another place on Senegal’s Olympic team. Once again he ran in both disciplines, reaching the semi-finals in the relay.

Post-2000 Faye continued to have success in the 400 metres hurdles, winning bronze at the 2003 All-Africa Games, followed by silver at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games. He bookended his career with gold in the 400 metres hurdles and bronze in the relay at the 2005 Jeux de la Francophonie Games. From 1994 to 2004 Faye won five national championships, in addition to setting a Senegalese record in the 4 × 400 metres relay that still stood at the time of his death. He was 55-years-old when he died of a heart attack in Paris, where he had lived since the end of his athletics career.

Personal Bests: 400 – 46.45 (1997); 400H – 48.30 (1999).