African Canoe Sprint Championships 2026: Egypt win nine of 15 finals on day two, lead with 12 golds
- Published
- 2026-10-12T06:02:40+00:00
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- PaddleStats
Full competition results: 2026 CAC Canoe Sprint & Paracanoe African Championships - Boumerdes
Egypt won nine of the 15 finals on day two of the 2026 African Canoe Sprint Championships at the Keddara reservoir in Boumerdès, Algeria, and go into Monday's 200 m programme with 12 titles from 21 finals. South Africa's women won all three events they entered, Angola took the senior and U23 men's C2 500 m titles and the hosts won seven silver medals on Sunday.
Overview
Sunday brought 15 finals over 500 m between 08:30 and 12:00 local time, followed by three para canoe KL3 200 m races in the afternoon. After the opening day's six 1000 m finals, 21 of the 37 medal events are decided.
African Championships 2026 medal table after day two
| Rank | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egypt | 12 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| 2 | South Africa | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Angola | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | São Tomé and Príncipe | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Algeria | 1 | 9 | 2 | 12 |
| 6 | Tunisia | 0 | 4 | 10 | 14 |
| 7 | Cape Verde | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | Senegal | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Mozambique | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
The table counts each boat that finished in the top three, so a K2 or C2 medal is one medal. Three of Sunday's finals had fewer than three crews: the junior men's C2 had a single boat, and the U23 women's K1 and junior women's C2 had two each.
Egypt Canoe Sprint won nine golds on Sunday alone, two more than the seven they took at the whole of the 2025 championships in Luanda, where they topped the table with 18 medals. Algeria reached the podium in nine of the 15 finals but won only one of them. Tunisia have more medals than the hosts, 14, and are still waiting for their first title.
Egypt's nine titles: three for Asmaa Aly
Asmaa Aly was the only athlete to win three titles on Sunday. She raced the women's C2 500 m three times, in three age categories, and won all three. With Farah Hewidy she took the senior title in 2:15.23, 12.69 seconds clear of Senegal's Mame Diarra and Combe Seck. An hour later she and Gana Morsy won the U23 final in 2:18.94, 3.38 seconds ahead of Algeria's Chanez Slimane and Amel Ferguen. The same pair later added the junior title.
Egypt's women also won both junior kayak events. Mennatallah Atwa won the K2 500 m with Mariam Arbi in 2:11.75 and then the K1 500 m in 2:15.05, 13.41 seconds ahead of Algeria's Maroua Yourmouche. Arbi added silver in the U23 K2 with Gana Nasr.
Hamza Ahmed and Mohamed Ismail set the fastest K2 time
The best men's time of the day came from a U23 crew. Mohamed Ismail and Hamza Ahmed won the U23 K2 500 m in 1:36.70, 6.27 seconds ahead of Ryad Bentouati and Sid Berkani. That was 0.92 seconds faster than the senior final, which Hamza Ahmed had won an hour earlier with Karim Elsayed in 1:37.62. Ismail now has two titles in Boumerdès after his U23 K1 1000 m win on Saturday. Hamza Ahmed, fourth in Saturday's senior K1 1000 m, also has two.
The senior K2 had the smallest winning margin of any final on Sunday. Ayoub Haidra and Sid Berkani finished 1.32 seconds behind the Egyptians, with Mohamed Mrabet and Farouk Dali taking bronze for Tunisia in 1:42.26.
The junior K2 was almost as tight. Ahmed Ibrahim and Mahmoud Gouda won in 1:41.34, 1.42 seconds ahead of Mohamed Beneddine and Abdelkrim Lamani. For Ibrahim it was a second title after the junior K1 1000 m. Mohamed Naffeti, bronze in that K1 race, took another bronze with Adam Lahbib. In the junior men's C2 only one crew started: Aly Ahmed and Adam Hussein completed the course in 2:17.07 and took the title.
South Africa, Angola and Algeria share the other six titles
South Africa's women win every race they enter
South Africa brought two women to Boumerdès and left Sunday with three titles. Esti Olivier won the senior K1 500 m in 1:59.73, the only time under two minutes in any women's K1 final, and 14.20 seconds faster than Tunisia's Sabiha Othmane. Alexandra Custodio took bronze for Angola and Diana Wanyonyi finished fourth for Kenya.
Alexa Godden won the U23 K1 500 m in 2:09.22, 4.08 seconds ahead of Othmane, and then joined Olivier in the senior K2. They won in 1:54.85, 7.30 seconds ahead of Algeria's Aya Ferfad and Salsabil Rebouh. With Hamish Lovemore winning the men's K1 1000 m on Saturday, South Africa have won all four finals they have entered.
Four medals for Sabiha Othmane
Othmane finished Sunday with four medals, more than anyone else: silver in the U23 and senior K1, and bronze in the senior K2 with Hiba Boubaker and in the U23 K2 with Marwa Mohamed.
Angola win the senior and U23 men's C2 titles
Domingos Pacavira won two golds in the men's C2 500 m with two different partners. With Manuel Antonio, silver medallist in Saturday's senior C1 1000 m, he won the senior final in 1:49.08. Admilson Sousa and Jacuberto Dias of São Tomé and Príncipe were 6.18 seconds behind, and Tunisia's Mohamed Trabelsi and Mohamed Hmida took bronze. In the U23 race Pacavira teamed up with Silvio Tchilanda and won in 1:54.98, 4.59 seconds ahead of Egypt's Omar Abdelfattah and Abdelhameed Abualola.
Dias, born in 2008, now has a full set: gold in the junior C1 1000 m, bronze in the senior C1 1000 m and silver in the senior C2. Sousa, Saturday's senior C1 1000 m champion, adds a silver.
Algeria's one gold comes in the U23 women's K2
The hosts' only win came from Ferfad and Salsabil Rebouh. Second in the senior K2 earlier in the morning, they won the U23 race in 2:03.06, 4.95 seconds ahead of Egypt's Nasr and Arbi. The other Algerian medals on Sunday were seven silvers and one bronze. Walid Tiachache, silver in the junior C1 1000 m on Saturday, raced the senior and U23 C2 with Mohamed Sahnoune and finished fifth and fourth.
Two more countries opened their medal accounts. Senegal's Diarra and Combe Seck took silver in the senior women's C2, and Neuzia Banze and Teresa Chianane won bronze for Mozambique in the U23 women's C2.
Day two results: all 15 finals over 500 m
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| K1 W U23 | Alexa Godden (RSA) 2:09.22 | Sabiha Othmane (TUN) 2:13.30 | — |
| K2 W junior | Mariam Arbi, Mennatallah Atwa (EGY) 2:11.75 | Maroua Yourmouche, Aya Rebouh (ALG) 2:22.34 | Farah Naffeti, Ons Bahroun (TUN) 3:13.74 |
| C2 M junior | Aly Ahmed, Adam Hussein (EGY) 2:17.07 | — | — |
| K2 M junior | Ahmed Ibrahim, Mahmoud Gouda (EGY) 1:41.34 | Mohamed Beneddine, Abdelkrim Lamani (ALG) 1:42.76 | Mohamed Naffeti, Adam Lahbib (TUN) 1:54.15 |
| C2 W | Farah Hewidy, Asmaa Aly (EGY) 2:15.23 | Mame Diarra, Combe Seck (SEN) 2:27.92 | Chanez Slimane, Amel Ferguen (ALG) 2:39.94 |
| K2 W | Alexa Godden, Esti Olivier (RSA) 1:54.85 | Aya Ferfad, Salsabil Rebouh (ALG) 2:02.15 | Hiba Boubaker, Sabiha Othmane (TUN) 2:04.15 |
| C2 M | Domingos Pacavira, Manuel Antonio (ANG) 1:49.08 | Admilson Sousa, Jacuberto Dias (STP) 1:55.26 | Mohamed Trabelsi, Mohamed Hmida (TUN) 1:58.41 |
| K2 M | Hamza Ahmed, Karim Elsayed (EGY) 1:37.62 | Ayoub Haidra, Sid Berkani (ALG) 1:38.94 | Mohamed Mrabet, Farouk Dali (TUN) 1:42.26 |
| C2 W U23 | Gana Morsy, Asmaa Aly (EGY) 2:18.94 | Chanez Slimane, Amel Ferguen (ALG) 2:22.32 | Neuzia Banze, Teresa Chianane (MOZ) 2:30.14 |
| K2 W U23 | Aya Ferfad, Salsabil Rebouh (ALG) 2:03.06 | Gana Nasr, Mariam Arbi (EGY) 2:08.01 | Sabiha Othmane, Marwa Mohamed (TUN) 2:16.20 |
| C2 M U23 | Silvio Tchilanda, Domingos Pacavira (ANG) 1:54.98 | Omar Abdelfattah, Abdelhameed Abualola (EGY) 1:59.57 | Mohamed Trabelsi, Mohamed Hmida (TUN) 2:00.66 |
| K2 M U23 | Mohamed Ismail, Hamza Ahmed (EGY) 1:36.70 | Ryad Bentouati, Sid Berkani (ALG) 1:42.97 | Mohamed Ghali, Slehddine Maknine (TUN) 1:44.44 |
| C2 W junior | Gana Morsy, Asmaa Aly (EGY) 2:43.37 | Ons Bahroun, Farah Naffeti (TUN) 4:28.39 | — |
| K1 W junior | Mennatallah Atwa (EGY) 2:15.05 | Maroua Yourmouche (ALG) 2:28.46 | Ons Bahroun (TUN) 2:38.21 |
| K1 W | Esti Olivier (RSA) 1:59.73 | Sabiha Othmane (TUN) 2:13.93 | Alexandra Custodio (ANG) 2:30.24 |
On Saturday, Mohamed Gouda won the U23 C1 1000 m and took bronze in the senior race, and Diogo Araujo of Cape Verde won two medals: silver in the U23 K1 and bronze in the senior K1.
KL3: Sanka posts the fastest time, Guendouz wins his heat
The para canoe programme began on Sunday afternoon with the KL3 200 m. Paralympic champion Brahim Guendouz, profiled in the championship preview, won the first heat in 47.57 and went straight to the final. Senegal's Edmond Sanka won the second heat in 45.24, the fastest time in Sunday's KL3 races. Egypt's Noureldin Ramadan won the semi-final in 47.40, ahead of team-mate Omar Farag and Senegal's Babacar Diop. Kenya's Abdulaziz Bakari was fourth and is out.
What's next
Monday: 16 finals over 200 m
The African Championships in Boumerdès finish on Monday, 12 October, with 16 finals over 200 m between 08:30 and 12:15 local time (UTC+1). The programme opens with the KL1 men and KL2 women and ends with the senior women's C1 and men's K1.
The KL3 final is at 10:00. Guendouz, Sanka, Ramadan, Farag and Diop will race for the title.
Egypt lead South Africa by eight golds with 16 finals left. Tunisia, with 14 medals, have 16 more chances to win their first title.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who leads the medal table at the 2026 African Canoe Sprint Championships?
Egypt, with 12 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals after 21 of 37 finals of the 2026 African Championships. South Africa are second with four golds, Angola third with two golds and two silvers.
Who won the women's K1 500 m at the 2026 African Championships?
Esti Olivier of South Africa, in 1:59.73. Sabiha Othmane of Tunisia took silver and Alexandra Custodio of Angola bronze.
Which athlete won the most titles on day two in Boumerdès?
Asmaa Aly of Egypt, who won the women's C2 500 m in the senior, U23 and junior categories.
How many medals has Algeria won as host nation?
Twelve after two days: one gold, nine silvers and two bronzes. The gold came in the U23 women's K2 500 m, won by Aya Ferfad and Salsabil Rebouh.
Who won the men's K2 500 m at the 2026 African Championships?
Hamza Ahmed and Karim Elsayed of Egypt, in 1:37.62. Ayoub Haidra and Sid Berkani of Algeria were 1.32 seconds behind.
Is Algeria turning home water into titles?
Not yet. The hosts have one gold and nine silvers. Their closest misses were in the senior men's K2, where Ayoub Haidra and Sid Berkani lost by 1.32 seconds, and the junior men's K2, where Mohamed Beneddine and Abdelkrim Lamani lost by 1.42 seconds.
When is the KL3 final in Boumerdès?
On Monday, 12 October, at 10:00 local time. Brahim Guendouz and Edmond Sanka qualified as heat winners, Noureldin Ramadan, Omar Farag and Babacar Diop through the semi-final.
Has Egypt done better than at the 2025 African Championships?
In golds, yes: 12 so far, including three on day one, against seven across the whole of the 2025 championships in Luanda. In total medals, Egypt have 16 so far against 18 in Luanda, with one day still to race.
Egypt, with two-time champion Mohamed Ismail, lead going into the last day. The 2026 African Championships end on Monday with 16 sprint and para canoe finals over 200 m. Full results and start lists are on the event page; the championship preview has the background on Guendouz and Lovemore.