FATOU TIYANA 2007 National Sports Journalist Most Promising Athlete

Monday, January 14, 2008

Born in Banjul in 1987, she attended Albion Primary School and later proceeded to St Joseph’s Senior Secondary School. Whilst at St. Joseph’s, she controlled the sprint and long jump events. Until 2004, when she concluded her Grade 12 exams, she remained a force to be reckoned with in the school’s sporting personalities.

Her first international competition was Zone II in 2001 in Dakar, Senegal when she was still in school. She represented The Gambia in the Long Jump and bagged a silver Medal for her country.

In 2003 in Guinea Bissau, she won herself and her country gold medal in the long jump in the Zone II championship. In the same year in Benin, she competed in the African Juniors championship and managed to snatch a Gold medal from her fellow competitors from around the African continent.
 
A year after she completed her schooling, she traveled to Mauritania for the Solidarity Games. Her event was again the long jump and she again returned home with a gold medal.

In the 2006 Mali ZANOCA Games, she returned to her traditional winning spirit and won gold again in the long jump. Her other events were 100 and 200 metres. She won silver in both.

In 2007, she won three gold medals in the Guinea Bissau Solidarity games – one in 100 metres, the other in 200 metres and the last one in the long jump. In July 2007, she competed in the Algeria All Africa Games. She dropped in the long jump at the semi final stage. A month later, she traveled to Japan for the Osaka Youth Championship. 

This athlete currently holds the national record in the Long Jump which she set in 2005. 

Source: The Point