Ghana’s 100m dash National record holder, Benjamin Azamati, breezed to the finish line in 10.23s at the LA Grand Prix yesterday, finishing in third place behind Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo.
In a bid to improve his seasons best and ultimately secure an individual Olympic spot, Azamati was 1 of 9 stars that participated the in the meet.
A stacked track saw United States Kyree King, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, Canada’s Aaron Brown, United States Brandon Carnes, Canada’s Malachi Murray, Antiguan’s Cejhae Greene, United States Elijah Hall, Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake, and Ghana’s Benjamin Azamati vie for victory.
However, it was United States Kyree King who flew out of the blocks fastest, leading the pack and maintaining his stride, shrugging off competition from Lestslie Tebogo who finished in second place behind the American.
Azamati on the other hand, failed to get out of the blocks with much steam but gradually warmed himself into the race from lane 9, finishing the race with a season’s best of 10.23s and finishing the race in joint-third.
Irrespective of running a 10.23s season’s best, which is an improvement on the 10.41s run at the African Games 100m final, Azamati still falls short of the Olympic 100m qualifying mark which stands at 10.00s.
Nonetheless, with the Qualification time for the 100m set to end on June 30, 2024, Azamati — who obliterated a 22-year National record by Leonard Myles as he run a sizzling 9.97s en route to Tokyo’s Olympics — has time on hand to meet the entry qualifying time or may have to settle for an Olympic berth via the World Athletic Ranking.
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Story by: Andrews Sefa Bamfo| univers.ug.edu.gh
