Syrine Ebondo

Syrine Ebondo
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Tunisia
African Championships
Gold medal – first place 2000 Algiers Pole vault
Gold medal – first place 2002 Tunis Pole vault
Gold medal – first place 2004 Brazzaville Pole vault
Gold medal – first place 2006 Bambous Pole vault
Gold medal – first place 2012 Porto Novo Pole vault
Gold medal – first place 2014 Marrakech Pole vault
Gold medal – first place 2016 Durban Pole vault
African Games
Gold medal – first place 2015 Brazzaville Pole vault

Syrine Ebondo (née Balti; born 31 October 1983) is a Tunisian track and field athlete who competes in the pole vault. She is one of Africa's top pole vaulters and is a seven-time African champion. Her personal best of 4.21 metres, set in 2006, was the Tunisian record for the event until it was surpassed by Dorra Mahfoudhi in Rabat 2019 (4.31 metres).

Athletic career

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Born in Tunis, she won her first international medal at the age of fifteen, taking the pole vault title at the 1999 African Junior Athletics Championships.[1] She became the first women's pole vault champion at the 1999 Pan Arab Games, following its introduction into the programme.[2] Balti cleared four metres for the first time in 2000 and went on to claim the gold medal at the 2000 African Championships in Athletics.[3] From 2001 onwards she based her training in Toulouse in France. That year she achieved an African junior indoor record of 4.10 metres.[4]

She was ninth at the 2001 Francophone Games and sixth at the 2001 Mediterranean Games. In 2002, she came ninth at the 2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics then defended her title at the African Championships. A personal best of 4.10 metres at the 2002 IAAF World Cup was also an African junior record mark. She vaulted 4.20 metres indoors in 2003 (a Tunisian record) and matched that height outdoors in 2004.[4] A third straight African championship title came that year,[5] and she also defended her crown at the 2004 Pan Arab Games.[2]

Her 2005 season was highlighted by a win at the Arab Athletics Championships and a silver medal at the 2005 Francophone Games.[6][7] She equalled her indoor record of 4.20 m at the French Championships and set an outright best of 4.21 m for a fourth consecutive win at the 2006 African Championships, which was also a championship record). She was again chosen as Africa's representative at the 2006 IAAF World Cup and she finished in seventh.[4]

Her 2007 season was curtailed and she dropped out of the sport altogether, not returning until the 2012 season. She came back to win her fifth gold medal at the 2012 African Championships in Athletics.[8] She won her sixth gold medal at the 2014 African Championships in Athletics, tying Moroccan discus thrower Zoubida Laayouni for the most individual wins by a woman at the African Championships.

Competition record

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Year Competition Venue Position Notes
Representing  Tunisia
1999 African Junior Championships Tunis, Tunisia 1st 3.65 m
Pan Arab Games Amman, Jordan 1st 3.60 m
All-Africa Games Johannesburg, South Africa NM
2000 African Championships Algiers, Algeria 1st 3.85 m
2001 Jeux de la Francophonie Ottawa, Canada 9th 3.75 m
Mediterranean Games Radès, Tunisia 6th 3.70 m
2002 World Junior Championships Kingston, Jamaica 9th 3.90 m
African Championships Radès, Tunisia 1st 4.06 m
2004 African Championships Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo 1st 4.00 m
Pan Arab Games Algiers, Algeria 1st 3.90 m
2005 Arab Championships Radès, Tunisia 1st 3.80 m
Jeux de la Francophonie Niamey, Niger 2nd 4.05 m
2006 African Championships Bambous, Mauritius 1st 4.21 m
2012 African Championships Porto Novo, Benin 1st 3.80 m
2013 Arab Championships Doha, Qatar 1st 4.10 m
Jeux de la Francophonie Nice, France 3rd 4.10 m
2014 African Championships Marrakech, Morocco 1st 4.10 m
2015 African Games Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo 1st 4.10 m
2016 African Championships Durban, South Africa 1st 4.00 m
2017 Islamic Solidarity Games Baku, Azerbaijan 3rd 4.00 m

References

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  1. ^ African Junior Championships 1999 Archived 2013-10-31 at the Wayback Machine. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
  2. ^ a b Pan Arab Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
  3. ^ African Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
  4. ^ a b c Balti Syrine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
  5. ^ African Championships – Day Two. IAAF (2004-07-16). Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
  6. ^ Arab Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
  7. ^ Francophone Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
  8. ^ Watta, Evelyn (2012-06-29). Milama wins first-ever sprint title for Gabon – African champs, Day 2. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-06-29.
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