The Nigerian Beijing 2008 Olympic long jump bronze medallist finished the race in a Championships record of 11.00sec to top the podium, ahead of the Ivory Coast's silver medallist, Murielle Ahouré, who came in 0.03 behind, and bronze medal winner, Marie Josée Ta Lou in 11.20.

In a reverse of the women's event, the men's 100m gold went to Ivorian Hua Wilfried Koffi in a national record time of 10.05.

The silver and bronze medals went to Mark Jelks and Monzavous Edwards, both former United States sprinters now running for Nigeria, who finished with times of 10.07 and 10.16, respectively.

The women's 5,000m saw Ethiopian world bronze medallist Almaz Ayana claim a shock victory in a Championships record of 15min 32.72sec in a race that also featured newly crowned Commonwealth champion Mercy Cherono of Kenya.

Her compatriot and pre-race favourite Genzebe Dibaba, the world indoor 3,000m champion, settled for silver with a time of 15:42.16 and started limping after crossing the finish line as a result of an injury caused by her spike.

Glasgow 2014 silver medallist in the distance Janet Kisa of Kenya took the bronze medal in 15:54.05 ahead of compatriot Margaret Wangare, while Cherono surprisingly finished fifth in 16:08.81.

Yet another Championships record fell in the decathlon, as Algeria's Larbi Bouraada took gold with 8,311 points - just 32 points shy of the African record held by South African Willem Coertzen - having led from the outset of the event.

Zarck Visser took one of three South African gold medals on the day at the African Athletics Championships ©Getty Images



Guillaume Thierry of Mauritius claimed silver with 7,312 and Ghana's Atsu Nyamadi followed with 6,946 to take bronze.

Meanwhile, there was minor confusion in the women's 100m hurdles as South Africa's Rikenette Steenkamp and Ivorian Olympian Rosvitha Okou both finished in 13.26.

Steenkamp was confirmed as the eventual winner, with Nigeria's Nichole Denby in third place with 13.27.

More South African success on this second day of the Championships came in the long jump as the nation dominated the event, with Zarck Visser taking gold with 8.08 metres, Khotso Mokoena claiming silver with 8.02m and Rushwal Samaai securing bronze with 7.84m, and clinched two medals in the discus as Victor Hogan won gold with 62.87m followed by Russell Tucker with 62.15m.

The bronze medal went to Nigerian Stephen Mozia with 57.11.

Tunisia's Syrine Balti became just the second woman in the history of the Championships to win six individual titles - the first being Moroccan discus thrower Zoubida Laayouni - as she claimed gold in the pole vault with 4.10m.

She was joined on the podium by home athlete Nisrin Dinar, who secured silver with 3.80m, and Tunisia's Dorra Mahfoudhi, who took bronze with 3.70m.

Elsewhere, Botswana's Isaac Makwala was the fastest man in the 400m semi-finals in 45.58, as South African Glasgow 2014 silver medallist Wayde van Niekerk only advanced as last qualifier in 46.6.

The men's 800m looks set to be a thrilling final as all the favourites, including Ethiopian world champion Mohammed Aman and Olympic silver medallist Nijel Amos of Botswana, advanced from the semi-finals.

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