I cried when I finished fourth in 100m final in Budapest -Ta Lou

Marie-Josee Ta Lou

African female 100m record holder, Marie-Josee Ta Lou, has revealed that she cried alone in her room when she placed fourth in the 100m final at the last World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. She said her target for now is a podium finish at the Paris 2024 Olympics Games.

“My calling in athletics is bigger than winning multiple medals,” Marie-Josee Ta Lou told BBC Sport Africa, reflecting on a season she called “great for me”.

There is a feeling that the fastest woman in Africa has given everything but fallen short of complete success during her decade-long love for the track.

The Ivorian star’s accomplishments transcend the continent. To put things into perspective, if the fastest female 100m athletes of all time were lined up in a race today, Ta Lou would automatically have a lane. She achieved an African record time of 10.72 seconds during the 2022 Monaco Diamond League, making her the sixth-fastest woman of all time.

However, this achievement alone has not been enough to push her to the highest level of the sport, where victories at the World Athletics Championships and Olympic Games carry greater weight.

Ta Lou has just ended another athletics season in which she came agonisingly close to a podium finish at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August.

“It really hurts and I still can’t say I am over it.
“I wanted to get a medal but finished fourth. I have been in a situation where I have been crying alone in my room.

“The support I received from fans across the world and my fellow competitors has been my saving grace,” says Ta Lou. Ta Lou is not new to being the athlete who almost makes it against the dominant Americans and Jamaicans.

The 2017 World Championships remain her most