The 24th edition of the African Athletics Championships is well underway in Accra. It marks the first time that the event has ever taken place in Ghana, and unfortunately, it hasn’t been a good start. While athletes have delivered impressive performances, conditions off the field have been far from perfect. In fact, a national champion has let it all out, revealing that even water wasn’t provided to them.
Aiden Smith had high expectations upon arriving for his first African Athletics Championship. However, he was far from happy with what had been provided to the athletes, including their accommodation.
“I expected a lot when we got here,” Smith said in an interview on X. “When we got into the rooms, the beds were leather. We got sheets, we got a pillow, but no blankets.”
“We don’t have an air conditioner remote. We had to go to the reception for an air conditioner remote. You’re not allowed to keep your aircon remote; you set it, and then you give it back.”
From there, things only worsened.
“There was no toilet paper, so we had to keep asking for it, and there was no warm water either; the water stayed at one temperature. In some rooms, the taps didn’t even work properly. Some of our rooms, the guys in our rooms, water doesn’t work in their room,” Smith went on.
He likely imagined it couldn’t get any worse, but unfortunately, it did. As athletes competing at the highest levels, they require incredibly high levels of nutrients. That especially applies to Aiden Smith, who entered the tournament as one of the favourites. That label shouldn’t be surprising given that he has won the shot put gold at the South African championships for two consecutive years.
Unfortunately, they never got proper food and even had to fight with those in charge.
“The food situation was also difficult,” Smith attested. “Whenever we went to eat, there were constant arguments with the staff about portions. We were only allowed one piece of chicken or one serving of fish, not both.
“I kept explaining that we are athletes and we need to eat properly to perform, but they would still refuse.”
Aiden Smith
speaks out over poor athlete treatment at the ongoing African Championships in Ghana!
He was crowned African Shot Put Champion today.pic.twitter.com/2fGSsdA3TB
— Track & Field Gazette (@TrackGazette) May 12, 2026
It took a war of words for them to change the situation, and even then, Aiden Smith got only “two pieces of chicken”. Things worsened even further from there as the breakfast situation became a major talking point amongst the athletes. For many, eggs are the quickest and easiest way to get their protein. Even then, they only got one. For some, that was reduced to half, which really upset the group, including Smith.
“Breakfast was no better. We were only given half an egg or one egg, and that was the limit. Back home, I can eat up to 20 eggs in the morning, and during the season, I normally have eight or nine. So being restricted to one egg was frustrating,” he said.
The complaints and comments were not limited to athletes; journalists also began reporting on the poor conditions. Christopher Maduewesi, a sports journalist, criticized the media conditions on social media, and he wasn’t the only one. Yet despite all that, Aiden Smith fell in love with Ghana and has already made plans to explore the city before he leaves.
Yet despite the growing criticism surrounding the conditions, the action on the track still delivered. In fact, the opening day saw the first three gold medals of the tournament handed out.
Three golds given out on Day 1 of the 2026 African Athletics Championships
Despite the unfortunate conditions in Accra, Aiden Smith still managed to thrive. Not just thrive but dominated as he threw an impressive 20.01 metres in the shot-put final. It’s far from his best (20.89 metres in March 2026) and well off his 2026 best, but it was more than enough. That throw secured his twelfth gold medal of the season, with Egypt’s Mostafa Amr Ahmed finishing second.
A finalist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Ahmed threw 18.89m to earn the silver while Cameroon’s Billy Jospen Takougoum took bronze. It does mark Smith’s first African Championships title and continues a sensational run of form for the 21-year-old. After all, he’s not made a podium just thrice this year, finishing first 12 times and third once in the other meets.
“I was hoping for a massive throw, but the conditions didn’t allow it,” Smith told Olympics.com. “I was aiming for 21m, but I’m still very happy with the win.”
He wasn’t the only one to win a gold medal, as Nora Atim Monie made history. The 29-year-old earned Cameroon’s first-ever discus title, winning the gold with a throw of 57.00m. It marks a remarkable effort from her, given her struggles in the previous edition of the tournament. Despite competing in the discus throw and shot put, Monie failed to make the podium.
This time around, Divine Oladipo (55.37m) and Obiageri Amaechi (53.23m) put up stern competition but fell short. Yet the hunt for a gold medal was far from over as Emeline Imanizabayo surged forward in dramatic circumstances to earn hers. The 30-year-old won the women’s 5,000m title, narrowly finishing ahead of Samia Hassan with a time of 23:25.92.
Hassan, on the other hand, clocked 23:26.34 while Ethiopia’s Zeyen Ayelegn pulled in for bronze with 23:30.55. It was a sensational close contest, with the trio competing for gold into the final stretch before Imanizabayo pulled ahead. This marks her first-ever African Championships gold and her second gold, having won the Dutch national championships earlier this year.
Yet while the performances gave the championships moments to celebrate, the growing criticism continues to cast a shadow over the event. With competitors and journalists now speaking out openly, questions about the organisation in Accra are unlikely to disappear anytime soon.
