By: Michael Okuley, Paris
Ghana has been a regular participant since making her debut appearance in 1952. It’s an event that has seen a lot of Ghanaians making names for themselves and also hoisting the flag of Ghana very high. Despite our consistency in showing up at the Games, the medal haul does not reflect on a country that prides itself as a sports nation.
In the previous 15 appearances, the West African country has won just 5 medals (4 bronze, 1 silver) with spread across 5 championships. Rome 1960, Tokyo 1964, Munich 1972, Barcelona 1992 and Tokyo 2020 are the only times Ghana has seen her athlete mounting the podium for laurels.
The best performance by a Ghanaian athlete has been achieved by Ike Quartey, who won a silver medal in 1960 light-welterweight boxing. Undoubtedly, boxing has been Ghana’s biggest sport in the Olympics- producing 4 medals out of the entire 5 for Ghana. Ironically, this same sport won Ghana’s last medal in the Tokyo 2022 edition where Samuel Takyi finished as bronze medalist in the men’s featherweight division in Japan. However, the country will not have representation in the upcoming edition.
Ghana has a total of 8 athletes competing in the 4×100 men’s relay team, men’s 100 and 200 metres, high jump and swimming for this year’s event. These young athletes are expected to make an impact when the Games officially start on Friday. With the squad available and performances preceding the Olympics, many have touted the prowess of Ghana in the men’s relay team.
Led by Joseph Paul Amoah, the team is ranked among the best 15 relay teams in the world- making it difficult for countries to overlook the wrecking Ghana can cause in the lanes. This confirms their straight qualification to the semi-finals without hitting the block.
At Paris 2024, Joselle Mensah and Harry Stacey will be swimming for Ghana. The former was born in Germany to a Ghanaian father and is a graduate of Lindenwood University in Missouri (USA). On the track, Benjamin Azamati will compete in his second Olympics, while Rasheed Saminu will make his Olympic debut in the men’s 200 metres event.
One major issue that has bedevilled this promising team is the art of baton changing. It cost them the gold medal during the Africa Games in Accra. A visit to the team gave an indication that, the coaches have also realized that ghost that has haunted them from achieving greater things. They spent much of their training time smoothing the rough edges to pervert future disappointment.
Another athlete in the spotlight will be ‘Gold Queen’ Rose Yeboah. Since her remarkable debut at the 2019 African Games in Rabat, she has secured a gold medal at nearly every competition she has entered. She won two gold medals in a row from the Africa Games on home soil and replicated the feat in Doula with a leap of 1.87m at the Africa Athletes Championship.
Earlier this year at the NCAA in the United States, Rose achieved a jump of 1.97 meters, making her the first Ghanaian woman to qualify for the Olympic Games in the high jump event.
With the opening ceremony scheduled for Friday 26, July 2024 at the heart of the city on The River Seine becoming the magical backdrop for the athletes and delegations, in front of thousands of spectators in Paris, in 2024, the expectations of people back home are high and same as the adrenaline of the Ghanaian athletes rising to the top of the podium in search of medals to the glory of the land.
