For a final shot at redemption and for a final time — perhaps until the Olympic Games — team Ghana’s phenomenal quartet of Ibrahim Fuseini, Isaac Botsio, Benjamin Azamati, and Joseph Paul Amoah made light work of a chasing pack at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas, breezing to a season’s best finish of 38.29s in heat 2 to secure Olympic qualification at the World Relays on Sunday.
For every stride taken at the stadium, its rippling effect was felt in Accra. For every baton exchange, Ghanaian hearts palpitated with the enormous possibilities of ‘what if’ in mind.
So much so was the terror and dread in the minds of Ghanaian’s after the team had dropped the baton on Day 1. And true to Ghanaians for their unwavering commitment to stay up all night on the dawn of a grueling working Monday morning with the team.
Ultimately, the toil and dedication of the people paid off as Joseph Paul Amoah steamed to the finish line with a chasing pack behind him, pointing the baton — what had been the cynosure of all eyes on day 1 as Ghana dropped it — to the camera’s, indicating the accomplishment of one of the most difficult task.
To Amoah’s credit, he immediately pointed to Ibrahim Fuseini after finishing the race, acknowledging the young lad who was in high school the last time team Ghana was preparing to head to Tokyo’s Olympics.
The heartwarming moment between the pair was suggestive of Amoah being content with Fuseini, who ran the first leg of the race in a split of 10.69s before handing over the baton to Isaac Botsio.
Botsio, running a world lead of 9.90s under all conditions this season, looked unbeatable in the 2nd leg, producing a split of 9.13s.
And there came the telling moment, which had let Ghana down on day one with a mishap in the baton exchange between Botsio and Azamati.
However, team Ghana was not to be denied as the heir( Botsio) to the former West Texas sprinter swiftly turned over the baton to Ghana’s national record 100m holder (Azamati), who turned on the after-burners and produced a sizzling 9.35s split.
Reminiscent of the African Games, Joseph Paul Amoah had the home straight in sight, but this time not saddled with having to do the chasing, but tasked with bringing it home.
A quick change over for team Nigeria, who were neck and neck with Ghana on the back straight at the African Games, meant the two rivals were at it once more but this time Ghana had the better of their rivals to win the race.
Team Ghana, after participating in the rescheduled Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, will now feature in back-to-back Olympic 4x100m after a sizzling contest.
The field of Netherlands, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Korea, Dominican Republic, and Nigeria, were astonished by Ghana’s performance.
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Story by: Andrews Sefa Bamfo| univers.ug.edu.gh
