Jessika Gbai
Ivorian sprinter (born 1998)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jessika Lauren Maca Gbai (born 29 December 1998) is an Ivorian track and field athlete from the Ivory Coast who competes as a sprinter.[1] Gbai made her Olympic debut for women’s 200m on 4 August 2024 at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. And successfully made into the final, finished in 8th[2] for her Olympic-Final debut as a first-time Olympian.
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Jessika Lauren Maca Gbai | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Ivory Coast | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 29 December 1998 DALOA, Côte d'Ivoire | ||||||||||||||
| Education | Howard University | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
Event | Sprint | ||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
| Personal bests | 100m: 11.22 (Clermont, 2023) 200m:22.36 (Paris, 2024) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life
Jessika Gbai born in Côte d'Ivoire, moved to Philadelphia (USA) as a child, she holds both citizenships. Was cleared by World Athletics to represent Côte d'Ivoire starting from 1 June 2022.[3]
She graduated from Howard University, where she competed for the Howard Bison track and field team and graduated in 2022 with degrees in biology and political science.[4][5]
Career
Jessika Gbai competed in the 200 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, running 22.82 seconds in the semi-final.[6]
She was part of the Ivory Coast 4x100m relay team that ran 42.23 seconds to set a new national record win the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne.[7][8] In August 2023, she set a new personal best time for the 200 meters of 22.43 seconds in Kinshasa jn winning gold for the Ivory Coast at the 2023 Francophone Games.[9][10]
Selected for the 200 metres at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest kn August 2023, she qualified for the semi-finals.[11]
She ran as part of the Ivory Coast 4x100m relay team which qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics at the 2024 World Relays Championships in Nassau, Bahamas.[12]
Jessika Gbai made her Olympics debut for women’s 200m on 4 August 2024 at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. In 200m, she finished her semi finals with a new personal best 22.36s. She successfully made into the final for 200m as a first-time Olympian, finished in 8th with a time of 22.70s[2] She also competed in the 4x100m relay at the Games.[13]
She ran 23.14 seconds to finish sixth in the 200 metres at the 2025 Xiamen Diamond League event in China, in April 2025.[14] She also finishes sixth at the 2025 Shanghai Diamond League event in China on 3 May 2025, in a new seasons best time of 22.88 seconds.[15] In May 2025, she was named as a challenger for the long sprints category at the 2025 Grand Slam Track event in Philadelphia.[16] She finished sixth over 200 metres at the Diamond League event at the 2025 Golden Gala in Rome on 6 June 2025.[17] She placed seventh over 200 metres at the Diamond League Final in Zurich on 28 August.[18]
In September 2025, she was a semi-finalist in the 200 metres at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.[19] She also ran in the women's 4 x 100 metres relay at the championships.[20]
Statistics
Circuit performances
| Grand Slam Track results[21] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slam | Race group | Event | Pl. | Time | Prize money |
| 2025 Philadelphia Slam | Long sprints | 400 m | 7th | 52.54 | US$25,000 |
| 200 m | 3rd | 22.85 | |||