JEMIMA SUMGONG

OkayAfrica's 100 Women celebrates African women who are making waves, shattering ceilings, and uplifting their communities.

Jemima Sumgong is a Kenyan long distance runner who has made impressive timing during her career. Most notably, she’s a 2016 Olympic marathon champion. She’s also the first female Kenyan winner since the women’s marathon was introduced at the Olympics in 1984.

Sumgong won the very first marathon she entered in Las Vegas in 2006, and has won many competitions since then. Sumgong has clinched first place in races all over the world in such cities as Rotterdam and London. This year, Sumgong will participate in the London marathon to defend her title! We’ll be rooting for her.

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Photo by Alain MINGAM/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images.

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Justice is on the horizon as Burkina Faso's former president, Blaise Compaore, is indicted for the 1987 assassination of Thomas Sankara.

Burkina Faso's former president, Blaise Compaore, has reportedly been indicted by a military court in the country's capital for the 1987 assassination of political revolutionary, Thomas Sankara. Hailed as a national hero, Sankara was assassinated alongside 12 other government officials in a coup led by Compaore before he ascended to power. In 2014, Compaore was forced to resign from his 27-year-long rule and seek exile in the Ivory Coast after continued mass demonstrations. Thirteen other political figures, including former General Gilbert Diendere, have also been indicted with charges including "assassination" and "concealment of corpses".

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