Morocco Struggles at Paris Olympics, Secures Only Two Medals

After the fiasco of 2021, Morocco sank in Paris. Only athlete Soufiane El Bakkali and the Atlas Lions saved the kingdom’s honor by winning a gold medal and a first bronze medal in football respectively. The Moroccan delegation composed of 60 Moroccan athletes representing Morocco in 19 different sports such as football, boxing and athletics performed poorly in Paris.

The last Moroccan athlete in the over 67 kg taekwondo tournament, during the Paris 2024 Olympic competitions, Moroccan Fatima Zahra Abou Faris, was eliminated from the competition. Boxer Widad Bertal, competing in the under 54 kg category, was eliminated in the quarterfinals after losing to North Korean Pang Choi-Miet by unanimous decision of the judges. Khadija Mardi, the first African to win the World Boxing Championship, failed to qualify for the semifinals in the under 75 kg category in Paris. The list goes on.

These many defeats make Morocco the last in the ranking (made on the penultimate day of the competitions) of Arab countries that participated in the Paris Olympics. Algeria (35th worldwide) is in the lead. It is followed by Tunisia (49th worldwide). Then come Egypt (50th worldwide) and Bahrain (51st worldwide). Morocco (57th worldwide) completes the top 5. Morocco is also the last in the ranking of African countries. A first. Algeria (35th worldwide) tops the top 5 ahead of Tunisia (49th worldwide). Egypt (50th worldwide) is in third place. Uganda (51st worldwide) comes next. Morocco (57th worldwide) closes the podium.