Free jump: Beninese athlete Salifou Mouhawya becomes world vice-champion, Benin's first world medal

Beninese athlete Salifou Mouhawya became the world vice-champion in free jump, the inline freestyle high jump event, on October 8, 2026, at the World Skate Games in Asunción, Paraguay. He cleared 1.65m, tying for height with Italy's Gianmarco Savi, who was crowned champion based on the number of attempts, reports Bénin Sports. This marks Benin's first world medal in this discipline.

The podium is half African: the bronze went to Senegal's Ousseynou Diène, who also cleared 1.65m, according to Wiwsport. None of the finalists managed to clear 1.70m, the bar at which all the favorites failed.

Dame Fall leaves the stage at the foot of the podium

Fourth place has a particular significance: it belongs to Senegal's Dame Fall, a five-time world champion and title holder, who also cleared 1.65m without reaching the podium in what Wiwsport describes as his final competition. His compatriot Ousseynou Diène, the Senegalese senior and cadet champion, and national junior vice-champion, secured his first world podium finish.

Four years of progress for Mouhawya

Salifou Mouhawya did not come out of nowhere. According to Bénin Sports, he finished fourth at the 2025 inline freestyle world championship in Singapore with 1.60m, before winning the first edition of the International Challenge Cotonou Skating in April 2026 with 1.68m, followed by bronze at the Hero Battle Cup in Milan in July 2026 with 1.65m. In Asunción, he chose to enter the competition late to save his attempts: 1.55m on the first try, 1.60m on the second, 1.65m on the first, followed by three failed attempts at 1.70m.

The 2026 World Skate Games are being held in Asunción from October 2 to 18, according to the international federation, World Skate.

A discipline supported by sheer determination

Roller sports do not have the budgets of football or the spotlight of athletics. These medals are won by self-funded clubs, intercontinental travel negotiated on a case-by-case basis, and athletes who work other jobs. The fact that Benin and Senegal have placed two jumpers on a world podium, and that a Senegalese school built around Dame Fall is passing the torch to a cadet, says something about the true depth of African sport: it is not measured only where the money is concentrated.