Gabriel M'Boa
{{short description|Central African Republic long-distance runner}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
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| name = Gabriel M'Boa
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| nationality = Central African Republic
| sport = Long-distance running
| event = 5000 metres
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Gabriel M'Boa, also known as Mboa Gabriel,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-olympic-results-s/175091520/|newspaper=The Houston Chronicle|via=Newspapers.com|date=October 16, 1968|page=81|title=Olympic Results, Schedule|agency=Associated Press}} {{Open access}} is a Central African former long-distance runner. He competed in the men's 5000 metres at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, becoming the first athlete from his nation ever to compete at the Olympics. He finished 13th in his heat and did not advance, and remained the only Central African Olympian until the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Biography
M'Boa's is from the Central African Republic, but his date of birth is unknown.{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/mb/gabriel-mboa-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418111732/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/mb/gabriel-mboa-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 April 2020 |title=Gabriel M'Boa Olympic Results |accessdate=8 November 2017}} He became an athlete and specialized in the 5000 metres, a long-distance running event.{{Cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Historical_Dictionary_of_the_Central_Afr/dxIVEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=gabriel+mboa+central+african&pg=PA458&printsec=frontcover|title=Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic|date=16 February 2025|author=Fandos-Rius, Juan; Bradshaw, Richard|isbn=9781538185773|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|pages=181, 548}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/65799|website=Olympedia.org|title=Gabriel M'Boa}} In this event, he set his personal best during a meeting in 1962, recording a time of 15:24:06. The Central African National Olympic and Sports Committee was formed in the early 1960s in hopes of competing at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, but was only recognized in time for the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City: for the 1968 Olympics, they sent one athlete, M'Boa, to compete.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Olympic_Review/KyYKAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22gabriel+mboa%22&dq=%22gabriel+mboa%22&printsec=frontcover|journal=Olympic Review|publisher=International Olympic Committee|page=654|title=Role of the CNOC|issue=140–146|date=1979}}
M'Boa thus became the first Olympian from the Central African Republic, and he competed in the men's 5000 metres. He was seeded in the first heat and participated on 15 October 1968. In the heat, which featured eventual medalists Mohammed Gammoudi and Kipchoge Keino, M'Boa finished in 13th place out of 14 runners with a time of 17:33, ahead of only Juan Valladares of Honduras.{{Cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/results/60592|website=Olympedia.org|title=5,000 metres, Men}} Overall, he had the third-slowest time, beating only Valladares and Clovis Morales. He is not known to have competed at any other international events.{{Cite web|url=https://worldathletics.org/athletes/_/14551991|publisher=World Athletics|access-date=June 23, 2025|title=Gabriel M'Boa}} The Central African Republic did not send any competitors to the following Olympics, and M'Boa remained his country's only Olympic participant until the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He was also the country's only Olympic participant in the 5000 metres until Ernest Ndjissipou in 1992, and remains one of only two as of 2024.{{Cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/countries/CAF/sports/ATH.1|website=Olympedia.org|access-date=June 23, 2025|title=Central African Republic in Athletics}}
References
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Category:Central African Republic male long-distance runners