Ninth All-Africa Games in Algiers, Algeria-Gold medallists Gertrude, Ah-Wan and Cupidon live their dreams |21 July 2007

They must also have already highlighted Thursday July 19, 2007. This is because on this day they gave Seychelles its first gold medals in seven participations in the quadrennial Games.

Meggy Gertrude, 17, made history for Seychelles in these Games by winning the country's first ever gold medal and she achieved the feat in the Laser 4.7 category at around 2 p.m. (5 p.m. Seychelles time).

As Gertrude was receiving her gold medal and the country's national anthem - Koste Seselwa - was being played and the Seychelles flag was being raised to the sky at the Alger plage where the sailing competition had taken place, the badminton mixed doubles duo of Ah-Wan and Cupidon was on the verge of writing another interesting script in Seychelles'
 sports history.

By 8 p.m. (11 p.m. Seychelles time), Ah-Wan and Cupidon had emulated Gertrude's feat. They had won the badminton mixed doubles gold medal inside the Salle OMS El Biar in Algiers.

It has taken Seychelles 29 years to win its first gold medals in the All-Africa Games after the country first participated in the African manifestation in the Algerian capital city of Algiers in 1978.

Used to sailing alongside male opponents in Seychelles, Meggy Gertrude, who was to take part in the Laser radial class initially but opted for a Laser 4.7 upon arriving in Algeria, did not find it tough to cope with this same situation in Algiers.

She collected six first places, four second places, a fourth place and a fifth place. After her worst two races were discarded, she finished with 16 points for first place overall in the women's Laser 4.7 class.

She was fifth in the mixed overall standing and even finished well ahead of a male competitor.

As for Ah-Wan and Juliette, they played in the day's fifth and last final of the Games' badminton competition and they proved that they remain the best mixed team around on the continent at the moment.

Crowned African mixed doubles champions in the same Salle OMS El Biar in Algiers in December 2006, Ah-Wan and Cupidon successfully defended their title in Mauritius earlier this year.

Against Nigerians Grace Daniel and G. Okuongahe, Ah-Wan and Cupidon were determined for victory and they achieved the feat with an impressive 2-0 (21-14, 21-17) win.

By today, Seychelles has won 10 medals - two gold, two silver and six bronzes.

Other than gold medallists Meggy Gertrude, Juliette Ah-Wan and Georgie Cupidon, the other Seychelles' medallists so far in the ninth edition of the All-Africa Games are female weightlifter Janet Thélermont (one silver and one bronze in the 69kg category), male laser standard sailor Allan Julie (one silver medal), female weightlifter Clementina Agricole
(three bronze in the 58kg category), badminton team made up of Cynthia Course, Juliette Ah-Wan, Catherina Paulin, Nicholas Jumaye, Steve Malcouzane and Georgie Cupidon (one bronze) and female badminton player Catherina Paulin (one bronze in the ladies' singles).

With its 10 medals, Seychelles was occupying 11th place by Thursday night on the medals table being led by host country Algeria with 151 medals - 52 gold, 43 silver and 56 bronze.

South Africa is second with 132 medals - 49 gold, 42 silver and 41 bronze - while in third place is Egypt with 128 medals - 44 gold, 45 silver and 39 bronze.

Seychelles still had a chance to better the medals tally as athletes Lindy Leveau-Agricole and William Woodcock are expected in action this weekend, while the women's volleyball team have reached the semifinals where they will play Cameroon today at the Salle OMS Mustapha Thacker in Blida.

By Gerard Govinden in Algiers