ATHLETES from Côte d'Ivoire

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.

1. Gabriel Tiacoh (1963 - 1992)

With an HPI of 48.70, Gabriel Tiacoh is the most famous Ivorian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 18 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.

2. Nelson Évora (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 47.65, 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.

3. Marie-Josée Ta Lou (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 46.33, Marie-Josée Ta Lou is the 3rd most famous Ivorian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 28 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 metres. She is a two-time World Championships medalist and is the African record holder in the 100 m and 200 m. After initially taking an interest in association football, Ta Lou-Smith made a successful switch to sprinting in 2008. She made a break through at the 2015 World Championships, making the semi-finals in both the 100 m and 200 m and setting personal bests in both events. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she placed fourth in both of her specialist events, setting five personal bests throughout the Games. She improved the next year to win her first global medal at the 2017 World Championships, winning silver in the 100 m. She also won bronze in the same event at the 2019 World Championships. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, she finished fourth in the 100 m and fifth in the 200 m. One of the most reliable and consistent sprinters, Ta Lou-Smith has also made major global finals in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Indoors, Ta Lou-Smith won the silver medal in the 60 m at the 2018 World Indoor Championships. In continental competitions, Ta Lou-Smith has been very successful, winning three gold medals at the African Athletics Championships, in the 200 m in 2016 and 2018, whilst also winning the 100 m in 2018. Meanwhile, at the All-Africa Games, she won gold in the 100 m and 200 m in 2015 and once again in the 100 m in 2019. Ta Lou-Smith's 100 m personal best of 10.72 s makes her the eighth-fastest woman and fastest African woman of all time. She also has the Ivorian record in the 200 m and the African record in the rarely-run straight 150 m.

4. Murielle Ahouré (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 44.09, Murielle Ahouré is the 4th most famous Ivorian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 27 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 60 m 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).

5. Cheick Sallah Cissé (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 39.80, Cheick Sallah Cissé is the 5th most famous Ivorian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Cheick Sallah Cissé Junior (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.

6. Ruth Gbagbi (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 38.92, Ruth Gbagbi is the 6th most famous Ivorian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 22 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.

7. Leslie Djhone (b. 1981)

With an HPI of 38.68, Leslie Djhone is the 7th 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 × 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 400 m 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 4 × 400 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.

8. Zaynab Dosso (b. 1999)

With an HPI of 33.86, Zaynab Dosso is the 8th most famous Ivorian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 12 different languages.

Zaynab Dosso (born 12 September 1999) is an Italian sprinter. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in 4 × 100 m relay.

9. Arthur Cissé (b. 1996)

With an HPI of 30.63, Arthur Cissé is the 9th most famous Ivorian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 13 different languages.

Arthur Gue Cissé (born 29 December 1996) is an Ivorian professional sprinter specializing in the sprints. He owns the Ivorian national records in the 60 m, 100 m, 150 m, and 200 m distances, including a sub-10 second time of 9.93 s in the 100 m. He has won several medals at the international level including a gold medal in the 2015 African Games 4 × 100 m relay and a silver medal in the 2018 African Championships 100 m. He became the 131st man to break the 10-second barrier in the 100 m on 16 June 2018, setting a national record of 9.94 s. He is coached by Anthony Koffi, the coach of fellow Ivorian sprinters and Olympians Ben Youssef Meïté and Marie-Josée Ta Lou.

10. Carolle Zahi (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 25.67, Carolle Zahi is the 10th most famous Ivorian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 8 different languages.

Carolle Zahi (born 12 June 1994) is an Ivorian-French sprinter. She obtained French nationality and began representing France internationally in 2015. She had already been the 2011 French Youth champion in the 100 meters. She was the French national champion and fastest non-qualifier in the 60 meters at the 2016 World Indoor Championships. Later that year, she was an alternate for the French Olympic 4 × 100 relay team, but never took the track. She was the 2017 French champion in the 100 meters. She won the 2017 European Team Championships and later competed in the women's 100 metres at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. In 2018 she returned to the World Indoor Championships, running a personal best 7.11 to be the top qualifier in the heats.