Ghana’s anchor leg runner in the 4x100m relay, Joseph Paul Amoah, has cited poor coordination and communication due to the loudness of the stadium as factors contributing to their disqualification at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Competing in heat 2 against Canada, France, Jamaica, China, and Liberia among others, Team Ghana faced difficulties with baton exchanges, which led to their sixth-place finish being nullified due to a changeover violation.
After a delay in the first exchange, Ghana were trailing several competitors and Joe Paul Amoah seemed to have received the baton outside of the changeover area.
“The stadium was really loud. Instead of using it as an advantage, I think it broke us in a way,” Amoah said after the race. “We struggled to hear the calls, but we did our best in the circumstances.”
The mishap echoed a similar issue faced during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where Ghana also encountered baton exchange errors in the final.
Benjamin Azamati, who ran the second leg of the relay and had previously progressed to the semifinals in the 100m, expressed disappointment with the performance. “Overall, no excuses. It was not a better race from us. We know we can do better. We just have to perform better,” he said.
With this disqualification, Ghana’s campaign at Paris 2024 concludes without a medal, following previous setbacks in swimming and high jump.
