Daba Modibo Keita
 A poster in a Bamako shop celebrating his 2007 victory |
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| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's taekwondo | ||
Representing  Mali
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| World Championships | ||
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2007 Beijing | Heavyweight |
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2009 Copenhagen | Heavyweight |
| West African Championship | ||
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1996 Abidjan | Heavyweight |
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1996 Bamako | Heavyweight |
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1998 Accra | Heavyweight |
| African Championship | ||
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2005 Madagascar | Heavyweight |
Daba Modibo Keïta (born 5 April 1981) is an Malian taekwondo athlete. Keïta has competed in international competitions since 1996, and in 2007 became the heavyweight (+84 kg) division 2007 World Taekwondo Champion in Beijing, and competed in both the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics in the +80 kg class.
Keïta was born in Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire) to Malian parents, and was named for the first President of Mali, Modibo Keita. He was forced to flee the country with his family in 2000 during the wave of xenophobia which preceded the Ivorian Civil War. Settling in Mali, Keïta had little funding for training, but received an IOC Olympic Solidarity Scholarship to pay for his training with Ivorian fighter Patrice Remarck in the United States. With coach Jorge F. Ramos, finances forced Keïta to stay with friends in Beijing during the 2007 world championship and train in a hotel courtyard. Keïta is managed by his older brother, Badra, and has lived and trained in France and the United States. Two of his brothers and two of his five sisters practice taekwondo, with his sisters both blue belts.
Despite tearing a back muscle before the match, Keïta won the gold medal for the Heavyweight (84 kg) division 2007 World Taekwondo Champion in Beijing by beating Iranian Morteza Rostami 3 to -1 in the final. He is the first Sub-Saharan African to hold the title of Taekwondo World Champion, and has become a national hero in Mali. Keita himself has reflected that “Winning the world title was almost unthinkable for an African, or someone from a developing nation.”
Keïta has become a national figure, making public appearances and meeting several times with the President Amadou Toumani Touré, who personally saw Keïta off to the Olympics. In part through Keïta's success, Taekwondo has exploded in popularity in the nation. In 2008 the Mali boasted over 150 clubs federated to the Fédération malienne de taekwondo (FEMAT) and 500 black belts among the almost 15,000 Malians who practise the sport.
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