Jessika Lauren Maca Gbai (born 29 December 1998) is an Ivorian track and field athlete from the Ivory Coast who competes as a sprinter.[1] Gbai made her Olympic debut for women’s 200m on 4th August, 2024 at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. And successfully made into the final, finished in 8th[2] for her Olympic-Final debut as a first-time Olympian.
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jessika Lauren Maca Gbai | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Ivory Coast | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 29 December 1998 DALOA, Côte d'Ivoire | ||||||||||||||
| Education | Howard University | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.67/5'6 | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
| Event | Sprint | ||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 100m: 11.22 (Clermont, 2023) 200m:22.36 (Paris, 2024) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life
editJessika Gbai born in Côte d'Ivoire, moved to Philadelphia (USA) as a child, she holds both citizenships. Was cleared by World Athletics to represent Côte d'Ivoire starting from 1 June 2022. [3]
She graduated from Howard University in 2022 with degrees in biology and political science.[4][5]
Career
editJessika Gbai competed in the 200 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, running 22.82 seconds in the semi-final.[6]
She was part of the Ivory Coast 4x100m relay team that ran 42.23 seconds to set a new national record win the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne.[7][8] In August 2023, she set a new personal best time for the 200 meters of 22.43 seconds in Kinshasa jn winning gold for the Ivory Coast at the 2023 Francophone Games.[9][10]
Selected for the 200 metres at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest kn August 2023, she qualified for the semi-finals.[11]
She ran as part of the Ivory Coast 4x100m relay team which qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics at the 2024 World Relays Championships in Nassau, Bahamas.[12]
Jessika Gbai made her Olympics debut for women’s 200m on 4th August, 2024 at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. In 200m, she finished her semi finals with a new personal best 22.36s. She successfully made into the final for 200m as an first-time Olympian, finished in 8th with a time of 22.70s[2]
References
edit- ^ "Jessika Gbai". World Athletics. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ a b Paris 2024 (5 August 2024). "Olympic Schedule & Results-Athletics - Women's 200m". Paris 2024 Olympics. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Paris 2024 (30 July 2024). "Paris 2024 — GBAI Jessika". Paris 2024 Olympics. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Gary, LaShandra N. (May 23, 2022). "Howard University Grad Stories: Jessica Gbai". thedig.Howard.edu. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
- ^ Freeman, Sholnn Z. (August 1, 2024). "From Philly to Paris: Jessika Gbai's Olympic Sprint to Success". Retrieved August 2, 2024.
- ^ "Gbai's Run Ends at the World Athletics Championships". meacsports.com. 19 July 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ "Preview: Men's and Women's Relays - World Athletics Championships 2023". Watch Athletics. 17 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ "WCH Budapest 23 preview: 4x100m". World Athletics. 12 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ "9th Francophonie Games: Ivorians Jessica Gbaï and Cheickna Traoré win the gold medal respectively in the Women's and Men's 200m". abidjan.net. August 5, 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ "Jessica Lauren Gbai et Maboundou Koné seront aux Jeux Olympiques de Paris 2024". lekpakpatosportif. 4 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ "Women's 200m Results: World Athletics Championships 2023". Watch Athletics. 23 August 2023.
- ^ "Women 4x100m Results - World Athletics Relays Championships 2024". World Athletics. 5 May 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
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