Ghana’s 4×100-meter relay team — consisting of Joseph Paul Amoah, Benjamin Azamati, Ibrahim Fuseini, Sean Sarfo Antwo, Isaac Botsio — are on a quest to qualify for the summer’s Olympic Games, which is set to take place in France, Paris.
The keenly contested relay event, which brings the finest athletes across the globe together, will take place at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas.
Team Ghana, who finished second at the African Games behind fierce rivals Nigeria in the 4x100m final, have been placed in heat one of the World Relays.
The team is pitted against host nation Bahamas, Czech Republic, South American champions Brazil, Korea Republic, Olympic Champions Italy, Liberia and world champions the United States of America.
In order for Ghana to secure an automatic qualification spot to Paris, the team is tasked to finish in the top two to make the final of the event, and subsequently book a ticket to France.
More than 40 countries will be vying for an Olympic spot, with 14 available slots for all countries participating in Bahamas.
The meet will feature the 4x100m and 4x400m relay event for the men and women teams, respectively.
Teams who are unable to finish in a top two spot on Day 1 will be given a second shot to Paris on Day 2 (May 5) of the meet.
Ghana’s 38.43s finish at the African Games sees them ranked 15th globally, although the team posted a time of 39.71s at the Pennsylvania Relay last weekend.
However, a revamped quartet sees Issac Botsio, who has the world lead of 9.90s under all conditions, come in for Edwin Gadayi. Additionally, Ibrahim Fuseini replaces Solomon Hammomd, with team Ghana maintaining Benjamin Azamati and Joseph Paul Amoah from the silver medal African Games quartet.
Elsewhere, heat two of the World Relays comprises Turkey, Spain, Poland, Great Britain, Trinidad&Tobago, France, Nigeria and Switzerland.
Meanwhile, the last heat sees Denmark, Belgium, Thailand, Canada, Australia, Germany, Jamaica, Netherlands shrug it out.
The event is set to commence in the early hours of Sunday morning ( May 5, 2024 — 00:27 GMT)
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Story by: John Foh| univers.ug.edu.gh
