At the 1997 Jeux de la Francophonie, the athletics events were held in Antananarivo, Madagascar in August and September 1997. A total of 43 events were contested, of which 23 by male and 20 by female athletes. Of the forty nations present at the competition, fifteen reached the medal table in the athletics competition.
The regional leader France easily topped the medal table with eleven gold medals and 38 in total. This was almost twice as many as second placed Canada (seven golds and twenty altogether). The hosts Madagascar had a strong showing in third place with seven golds and 16 medals – a performance which helped it into second place in the medals at the games. Senegal and Romania were the next best performers with four golds each.
A total of eight games records were set during the competition. On the men's side, Jean-Olivier Zirignon won the 100 metres in 10.07 seconds, Alejandro Argudin ran 49.22 seconds for the 400 metres hurdles, the high jump saw Mike Caza and Khemraj Naiko both reach 2.23 m, Cheikh Touré won the long jump with 8.19 m and Bouna Diop set a new javelin throw standard of 75.82 m. On the women's side Denisa Costescu ran 16:44.2 minutes to win the inaugural 5000 metres title (which replaced the previous 3000 metres event), Laurence Manfredi threw a record of 16.70 m in the shot put and Kim Vanderhoek set a heptathlon games best of 5650 points.Francophone Games. GBRathletics. Retrieved on 2013-05-06.
Medal summary
Men 100 metres(wind: +0.3 m/s) 10.07 GR 10.33 10.42200 metres(wind: -2.2 m/s) 20.54 20.94 21.00400 metres 45.74 46.16 46.67800 metres 1:46.83 1:48.02 1:48.261500 metres 3:45.37 3:45.71 3:47.675000 metres 14:45.3 14:46.1 14:46.610,000 metres 29:55.8 29:58.02 30:21.33 Marathon 2:24:34 2:34:12 2:44:10110 metres hurdles 13.56 13.71 13.72400 metres hurdles 49.22 GR 50.02 50.463000 metres steeplechase 8:55.56 8:56.16 8:57.384×100 metres relay Éric Pacôme N'DriJean-Olivier ZirignonAhmed DouhouIbrahim Meité38.7 Alfred MoussambaniSerge BengonoIssa-Aimé NthépéBenjamin Sirimou39.3 Patrick Mocci-RaoumbeCharles TayotLueyi DovyAntoine Boussombo39.54×400 metres relay Seydou LoumHachim NdiayeAlpha Babacar SallIbrahima Wade3:02.0 Fernando AugustinRudy TirvengadumGilbert HashanEric Milazar3:07.3 Ousmane DiarraJean-Laurent HeusseDavid KafkaMarc Raquil3:07.420 km walk 1:26:39 1:27:59 1:29:30 High jump 2.23 m GR 2.23 m GR 2.15 m Pole vault 5.40 m 5.20 m 5.10 m Long jump 8.19 m GR 8.02 m (w) 7.82 m Triple jump 16.50 m 16.49 m 16.46 m Shot put 17.79 m 17.75 m 17.14 m Discus throw 59.02 m 58.11 m 57.47 m Hammer throw 70.90 m 69.62 m 68.40 m Javelin throw 75.82 m GR 72.61 m 70.63 m Decathlon 7477 pts 7376 pts 7356 pts
Women 100 metres(wind: -1.9 m/s) 11.51 11.65 11.66200 metres(wind: +0.1 m/s) 23.40 23.53 23.78400 metres 52.91 52.99 53.18800 metres 2:06.32 2:06.37 2:06.731500 metres 4:19.80 4:23.68 4:26.325000 metres 16:44.2 GR 17:04.5 17:06.710,000 metres 34:27.57 34:59.75 35:27.21100 metres hurdles(wind: -1.3 m/s) 13.21 13.60 13.68400 metres hurdles 57.20 57.28 57.334×100 metres relay ?Lalao RavaonirinaMonica RahanitranirianaHanitriniaina Rakotrondrabe44.45 Isabelle CorreaMarie-Joëlle DogboNathalie PolinLinda Ferga44.46 Erika WitterLisa Nicole KoshDena BurrowsLaToya Austin44.614×400 metres relay Myriam Léonie ManiGeorgette NkomaCarine EyengaDelphine Atangana3:34.40 Marie-Louise BévisSylvie BirbaFabienne FicherAnita Mormand3:34.99 Aurelie JonaryCendrino RazaiarimalalaMonica RahanitranirianaPaule Ony Ratsimbazafy3:35.09 Marathon 2:56:24 3:02:16 3:06:1310 km walk 49:18 50:51 56:04 High jump 1.85 m 1.82 m 1.82 m Long jump 6.30 m 6.29 m 6.04 m Triple jump 13.98 m 13.75 m 13.64 m Shot put 16.70 m GR 15.97 m 14.95 m Discus throw 55.81 m 47.46 m 46.73 m Javelin throw(old model) 49.99 m 49.85 m 46.25 m Heptathlon 5650 pts GR 5544 pts 5296 pts
Medal table
References Notes
Sources Francophone Games. GBRathletics. Retrieved on 2013-05-06. Resultats. Francophonie. Retrieved on 2013-05-06.