Ali Kamé Explained

Ali Kamé (born 21 May 1984) is a Malagasy track and field athlete who competes in the decathlon. He won the gold medal at the 2012 African Championships in Athletics and was a bronze medallist at the 2011 All-Africa Games. His personal best of 7685 points is the Malagasy record and he is a three-time winner of the African Combined Events Championships.

Biography

Born in Namakia in Madagascar's Mitsinjo District, he began to compete internationally in the decathlon in 2007. A national record of 6564 points at the Multistars meeting was followed by a wind-assisted 6740 points in Arles. The 2007 All-Africa Games was his first outing for Madagascar and he placed seventh with a Malagasy record score of 7012 points.[1]

He added a point to this tally at an African Combined Events meeting in Réduit in April 2008.[2] At the 2008 African Championships in Athletics, held a month later, he came close to the podium with a fourth-place finish.[3] He returned to the European circuit that year, but placed 21st at both the Multistars and Arles meets. The re-establishment of the African Combined Events Championships in Mauritius in 2009 saw him win his first regional title with a record mark of 7363 points.[4] This proved to be his sole complete decathlon that year, as he failed to finish at his two regular European meets.

Kamé began training at the IAAF High Performance Training Centre in Mauritius and he scored 7314 points in Réduit in April.[5] He again collected over seven thousand points at the Multistars meet, taking fourteenth place as Africa's top performer.[6] In his third and final decathlon that year he came fourth at the 2010 African Championships in Athletics, repeating his finish from 2008.[7] He returned and defended his Combined Events African title in 2011 with a national record score of 7685 points.[8] He had his first top ten placing at Multistars and then won his first medal at a major competition, totalling 7458 points for the bronze medal at the 2011 All-Africa Games behind Jangy Addy and Guillaume Thierry.[9]

His good form continued into 2012 as he began by winning a third African Combined Events title ahead of Theirry.[10] He was again top ten at the Multistars meet and was sixth at the TNT – Fortuna Meeting with a score of 7443 points.[11] Later that June he won his first major continental title at the 2012 African Championships in Athletics, although the field of competitors was small.[12]

Competition record

Representing
2007All-Africa GamesAlgiers, Algeria4thShot put17.91 m
7thDecathlon7012 pts
2008African ChampionshipsAddis Ababa, Ethiopia4thDecathlon6774 pts
2010African ChampionshipsNairobi, Kenya4thDecathlon7072 pts
2011All-Africa GamesMaputo, Mozambique3rdDecathlon7458 pts
2012African ChampionshipsPorto Novo, Beninbgcolor=gold1stDecathlon7252 pts
Olympic GamesLondon, United Kingdom110 m hurdlesDQ
2013World ChampionshipsMoscow, RussiaDecathlonDNF
Jeux de la FrancophonieNice, France4thDecathlon7456 pts
2014African ChampionshipsMarrakech, Morocco5thDecathlon6819 pts
2016African ChampionshipsDurban, South Africa3rdDecathlon6892 pts
Olympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil36th (h)110 m hurdles14.89[13]

Notes and References

  1. http://www.africathle.com/perso/events/ALGER_2007/ALG_results.html 2007 All Africa Games results
  2. Quirin, Reynolds (2008-04-07). http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=44365.html . IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-07-08.
  3. http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/letter=k/athcode=227785/index.html Ali Kame
  4. http://www.tilastopaja.org/staticresults/12751287.htm AfrC Réduit MRI 18 - 19 April 2009
  5. Sampaolo, Diego (2010-05-06). Melnychenko and Arnold the favourites in Desenzano del Garda – IAAF Combined Events Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-07-08.
  6. http://www.iaaf.org/wce10/results/eventCode=4412/sex=M/discCode=DEC/combCode=hash/roundCode=10/summary.html#det 23° Multistars - Trofeo Zerneri Acciai
  7. http://www.dbresults.net/sitof/risultati/at/2010/Nairobi2807201001/at/ASM/036/004/cgcgr3atasm036m004001.html Decathlon Men
  8. http://www.iaaf.org/wce11/results/eventCode=4748/sex=M/discCode=DEC/combCode=hash/roundCode=10/summary.html#det 2011 African Combined Events Championships Decathlon - Men Standings after Event 10
  9. http://www.africathle.com/?q=en%2Fcontent%2Fall-africa-games-jeux-africains-maputo-mozambique-11-159 All-Africa Games - Jeux Africains, Maputo (Mozambique) 11-15/9
  10. http://iaaf.org/Mini/WCE12/Results/ResultsByEventWCE.aspx?/eventcode=4916/ 2012 African Combined Events Championships Results
  11. http://www.iaaf.org/Mini/WCE12/Results/ResultsByEventWCE.aspx?/Mini/WCE12/Results/ResultsByEventWCE.aspx?/eventcode=4912/sex=M/discCode=DEC/combCode=hash/roundCode=10/summary.html#det TNT-Fortuna Meeting
  12. http://www.resultcaa.org/pdf/Book_all_Results.pdf 2012 African Championships
  13. Note: Because Ali's heat and one other took place in heavy rain unlike later heats, there was a re-run for athletes who failed to qualify by right. Ali did not start in that repechage.