The bad news is that none of the times, heights, or distances covered in Accra 2023 fulfill the requirements required to compete in track and field at the Olympic Games, despite Team Ghana appearing to have a successful African Games.
No Ghanaian athlete qualified for Paris Olympic Games
Joseph Paul Amoah of Ghana took first place in the men’s 200-meter race at the Games, clocking in at 20.70, only a few milliseconds short of the official qualification mark for the Olympics.
The estimated qualifying time is 20.16. The 200-meter personal best for Joseph Paul Amoah is 20.08. He will need to go back and review that form in order to qualify for the Olympics.
In high jump, Ghana won double gold medals in the men and women’s division of the event. Cadman Yamoah cleared a height of 2.33m to qualify while Rose Amoanima Yeboah who also won gold in 2019 cleared a height of 1.90m to win gold in Accra.
The Olympic qualifying height for the high jump for men however, stands at 2.33m while the women will have to jump a height of 1.97m to make it on the plane to the French capital.
Ghana’s fastest man, Benjamin Azamati, will also have a lot to do from now till June to try to qualify for the Olympics. He finished 5th in the 100m final in 10.45s – which ranks among the lowest times he has ran since he started running professionally.
The Olympic qualifying time for 100m is at an incredible 10.00. To put this time into perspective, only five Ghanaians have run that time or better in the history of sport in this country – Azamati himself, whose national record stands at 9.90, Joseph Paul amoah who ran 9.94 after the pandemic, 9.98s for Leo Myles Mills, who held the national record for close to 2 decades, Aziz Zakari at 9.99; and Eric Nkansah, whose record is at 10.00.
Azamati will have to put in extra work now that the outdoor season has begun to hit the qualifying time for the Olympic Games.
Ghana’s female sprinters were impressive, but they will all have to make a time of 11.07s to qualify for the global sporting showpiece.
In long distance running, William Amponsah may have won hearts in the men’s 10,000m and won a silve medal in the half marathon, but there is still some distance he has to go to make the qualifying time for both events.
With the outdoor season just starting and athletes having from now until the 30th of June to make the Olympic times, hopefully we see a lot more Ghanaian athletes putting themselves in contention for a place at the Games.
