By Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
A 26-year-old Ghanaian sprinter Joseph Paul Amoah failed to make it to the semifinals of the 200m of the ongoing 2023 World Athletics Championships.
The 26-year-old finished fifth in the heats with a time of 20.56s which was not good enough to propel him to the next round of the event.
Mr. Amoah who ran in lane 6 of the keenly contested race could not outsmart Erriyon Knighton, Tokyo Olympic Games gold medallist Andre DeGrasse, Sinesipho Dambile, and Filippo Tortu who all finished ahead of him despite starting on a good note.
The Ghanaian sprinter who was in front of his fellow competitors after the curve appeared to experience a rapid drop in energy, which he explains as being caused by an instantaneous toe injury he sustained in the last moments of the race.
The former national record holder who saw his record broken by James Dadzie earlier this year went into the race with his season’s best time of 20.43 with the hopes of finishing with a better time given his exploits in previous races.
The result of the race implies that Ghana’s hopes in the 200m are completely shattered following the withdrawal of Dadzie who pulled out due to injury.
As a result of the dismal results, Ghana is anticipated to shift its attention to the relays in terms of track events.
