Team Ghana’s men’s and women’s 4×100 metres relay teams both claimed bronze medals at the ongoing African Senior Athletics Championships at the University of Ghana Stadium in Accra.
The men’s relay team, consisting of Edwin Gadayi, Joseph Paul Amoah, Ibrahim Fuseini and Abdul-Rasheed Saminu, entered the final as strong favourites after recording the fastest time in the qualifiers.
With expectations high among home supporters, many anticipated Ghana would successfully defend its title. However, Côte d’Ivoire produced a surprise performance to win gold in an intense final, ahead of Nigeria, while Ghana finished third with a time of 38.74 seconds.
The outcome was a disappointing one for the Ghanaian team, who arrived at the championship as defending champions following their gold medal success at the previous edition in Douala, Cameroon.
In the women’s 4×100 metres relay, Ghana’s young quartet delivered one of the biggest surprises of the competition by securing bronze behind Nigeria and Liberia.
The team, made up mostly of athletes competing in their first-ever senior international championship, impressed spectators with a confident and determined display against more experienced relay teams on the continent.
Nigeria won gold in the women’s event after setting a championship record time of 42.94 seconds, while Liberia finished with silver as Ghana completed the podium places in front of an energetic home crowd.
Although the men narrowly missed out on gold, the relay medals further boosted Ghana’s medal tally and highlighted the promising future of the country’s sprint teams.
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Story by Erica Odeenyin Odoom | univers.ug.edu.gh
