Odile Ahouanwanou (born 5 January 1991) is a

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

ese

heptathlete A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

, who also specialises in the

100 metres hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten Hurdling, hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first h ...

; she holds Beninese records in both events. She competed at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

2015 African Games The 11th African Games took place from September 4–19, 2015 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. This edition marked the 50th anniversary of the Games, as well as their return to Brazzaville, which hosted the first edition in 1965. Host aw ...

and two

African Championships in Athletics The African Championships in Athletics is a continental athletics event organized by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), the continental association for the sport in Africa. Since its inaugural edition in 1979 it was at first organised ...

, and won a silver medal in the heptathlon at the 2015 African Games.

Competition

Ahouanwanou debuted internationally at the 2012 African Championships in Athletics in

Porto-Novo Porto-Novo (Portuguese: "New Port", , ; yo, Àjàṣẹ́, ), also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe, is the capital of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. Situated on an inlet of the Gulf of Gu ...

, Benin. She competed in the

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

and finished sixth overall with a points score of 4983, 941 points behind the gold medalist. Ahouanwanou's best result in an individual discipline was fourth in both the

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...

and

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

. At the

she competed in the

. She placed eighth out of nine competitors in Heat 6, setting a new Beninese national record at 14.76 seconds. Ahouanwanou's next major competition was the

2014 African Championships in Athletics The 2014 African Championships in Athletics was held in Marrakech, Morocco from 10 to 14 August 2014. The competition was the 19th edition of Africa senior championships. The competition served as preparation to African athletes for the next conti ...

, where she finished eighth in the

with 4309 points. She won the shot put and javelin disciplines, but she was disqualified in the 100 metres hurdles. Ahouanwanou then competed in the

, where she won the silver medal in the

with a points score of 5734. She finished first in the shot put and in the javelin, second in the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

, fourth in the high jump, fifth in the 100 metres hurdles, seven in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

and eighth in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. She finished in 8th place in the heptathlon at the 2019 World Championships, with a new national record points total of 6210.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahouanwanou, Odile 1991 births Living people Beninese female hurdlers Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Benin People from Savalou Heptathletes African Games silver medalists for Benin African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 African Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 African Games African Championships in Athletics winners Islamic Solidarity Games competitors for Benin Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics