Togo fetes kayaker who won its first medal

ANEHO, Togo (Reuters) - Thousands of cheering Togolese gave a hero's welcome on Sunday to kayaker Benjamin Boukpeti, whose bronze medal in Beijing was the first Olympic medal won by the tiny West African state.

Shouting "Bravo Boukpeti" and "You've honored Togo", crowds lined the streets of Aneho, 28 miles east of the capital Lome, where 27-year-old Boukpeti paraded in an open-back pickup truck, his medal dangling from his neck.

Boukpeti, born in France of a French mother and a Togolese father, lives and trains in the European country. It was only the second time he had visited the African nation he represented at the Olympics, a former French colony.

"I'm really happy with the welcome I've received. I've dedicated this medal to the Togolese people," a beaming Boukpeti, wearing a yellow T-shirt, told reporters.

After greeting and embracing well-wishers, including market women dressed in colorful traditional dress, the kayaker gave a demonstration of his sport on Lake Togo.

Boukpeti was third in the men's singles kayak slalom in Beijing, in which Germany's Alexander Grimm took gold and Fabien Lefevre of France won the silver.

"You've put Togo's name up high. With God's grace, at the next Olympics you'll get the gold," said Da Kayi, an elderly market woman who joined the crowds greeting him.

Aneho's traditional rulers made Boukpeti a prince of the town to celebrate his success.

Togo, a thin sliver of territory wedged between Ghana and Benin on Africa's Gulf of Guinea, was one of a number of countries, including Afghanistan, Mauritius and Tajikistan, which won Olympic medals for the first time in Beijing.

"Benjamin's bronze medal is worth gold to us," said Togolese Health Minister Charles Agba, who greeted Boukpeti on his arrival in Lome late on Saturday.

(Writing by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Sonia Oxley)