Nogona Bakayoko

Nogona Bakayoko
Personal information
Full nameNogona Celine Josee Bakayoko
Born (1992-09-28) 28 September 1992
Sport
CountryCôte d'Ivoire
SportWrestling
Weight class53 kg
Event
Freestyle wrestling
Medal record
Women's freestyle wrestling
Representing  Ivory Coast
African Games
Accra 2023 53 kg
African Championships
El Jadida 2022 53 kg
Hammamet 2023 53 kg
Casablanca 2025 53 kg
Alexandria 2024 53 kg

Nogona Bakayoko (born 28 September 1992) is an Ivorian freestyle wrestler. She won the silver medal at the 2023 African Games and is a multiple medalist at the African Wrestling Championships.[1][2]

Career

Bakayoko originally competed in badminton before switching to wrestling after the 2017 Jeux de la Francophonie. In a 2024 interview with RFI, she said that she discovered wrestling after those Games and then went on to win national titles in both freestyle and African wrestling in 2017 and 2018.[3]

She competed at the 2019 African Games in Morocco and finished fifth in the women's freestyle 53 kg category.[4]

At the 2022 African Wrestling Championships in El Jadida, Bakayoko won the silver medal in the women's freestyle 53 kg event, losing in the final to Nigeria's Mercy Adekuoroye.[5] She won another silver medal at the 2023 African Wrestling Championships in Hammamet.[6]

At the 2023 African Games in Accra, Bakayoko won the silver medal in the women's freestyle 53 kg event. RFI described it as the first medal for Côte d'Ivoire at those Games.[7]

In 2024, she won the bronze medal at the 2024 African Wrestling Championships in Alexandria. United World Wrestling reported that she defeated Miriam Orock Ngoe Wase of Cameroon 10–0 in the bronze-medal bout.[8]

In 2025, Bakayoko won the silver medal at the 2025 African Wrestling Championships in Casablanca. UWW listed her among the entries in the 53 kg division, and her athlete profile records the runner-up finish.[9][10]

Bakayoko also competed at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships, where she finished 20th in the women's freestyle 53 kg event.[11]

References

  1. ^ "BAKAYOKO Nogona Celine Josee". United World Wrestling. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  2. ^ "Nogona Celine Josee Bakayoko athlete profile". United World Wrestling. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  3. ^ "Jeux africains: Céline-Josée Bakayoko, l'Ivoirienne reconvertie avec succès du badminton à la lutte" (in French). RFI. 11 March 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  4. ^ "Nogona Celine Josee Bakayoko athlete profile". United World Wrestling. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  5. ^ "Adekuoroye, her sister bag gold medals at African wrestling championship". TheCable. 22 May 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  6. ^ "Nogona Celine Josee Bakayoko athlete profile". United World Wrestling. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  7. ^ "Jeux africains: Céline-Josée Bakayoko, l'Ivoirienne reconvertie avec succès du badminton à la lutte" (in French). RFI. 11 March 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  8. ^ "Egypt dominates GR, Nigeria shines in WW at African Championships". United World Wrestling. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  9. ^ "African Championships 2025 Entries". United World Wrestling. 21 April 2025. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  10. ^ "Nogona Celine Josee Bakayoko athlete profile". United World Wrestling. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  11. ^ "Nogona Celine Josee Bakayoko athlete profile". United World Wrestling. Retrieved 12 March 2026.