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While James Dadzie's Ghanaian Record of 19.79s has got the world talking, the truth is Ghana has been brewing some sprinters in the past five years, and this year may finally be when they come of age.
On April 29, 2023, James Dadzie sped to a massive Personal Best (PB), School Record (SR) and 200m Ghanaian Record (GR) of 19.79s (1.3) at the Corky/Crofoot Shootout in Lubbock, Texas.
By doing this, the Western Texas College freshman broke the GR of 20.08s, climbed to the top of the world ranking, dethroning the 19.87s clocked by Botswana's speedster Letsile Tebogo in the process, who ran this time during the weekend at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix.
While Dadzie's performance has got the world talking, the truth is Ghana has been brewing some sprinters in the past five years, and this year may finally be when they come of age.
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With the African men's sprint's attention always on South Africa, Nigeria, Cote D'Ivoire, and now Kenya, Ghana can sneak into that powerhouse top spot, and here's why.
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01:47 - 28.02.2023
ATHLETICS Nigeria may be losing its position as 'African giant' in the men's 100m
With the recent success of Ferdinand Omanyala and Akani Simbine through the years, this question surfaces - is Nigeria losing its claim to the title of being called 'African giant' in the men's 100m?
Zakari and Myles-Mills - the pacesetters
Aziz Zakkari and Leonard Myles-Mills are two of the best Ghanaian sprinters in history.
Zakkari's career summary highlights being a Sydney 2000 Olympic 100m finalist, Athens 2004 Olympian, a bronze and silver medallist at the 2004 and 2005 IAAF World Athletics Final, and a five-time African Championships medallist. He has a 100m PB of 9.99s and a 200m PB of 20.23s.
For Myles-Mills, he was an Olympian at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and a two-time All-Africa Games medallist (Gold in 1999 and Bronze in 2003). He's notably known for being the first Ghanaian to break the 10-second barrier with his PB of 9.98s clocked in 1998, and he is the African Record holder in the 60m with 6.45s.
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Both athletes were the last Ghanaian male sprinters that gave the country an African and global reckoning. Though it's been close to a decade for their athletics federation to find replacements, Ghana may have done that with not one but eight superstars in the making.
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11:14 - 21.04.2023
OPINION Why Jacobs and Kerley's 'thrash talking' rivalry is what track and field needs
Marcell Jacobs and Fred Kerley are changing the narrative of rivalry match-ups in track and field.
Meet the fantastic pool of Ghana's male sprinters
Benjamin Azamanti made history by breaking a 22-year National Record (NR) held by Myles-Mills when he sped to 9.97s in Texas on March 26, 2021, which qualified him for the Tokyo Summer Olympics. He also ran a 200m PB of 20.13s.
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Exactly a year after, Azamati improved his 100m NR to an early world lead of 9.90s in Texas, making him the joint fourth-fastest collegiate of all-time with Travon Bromell.
Sean Safo-Antwi competed for Great Britain before switching allegiance to Ghana in 2016. He is a two-time Olympian (Rio 2016 and delayed Tokyo 2021) and has Personal Best (PB) times of 10.12s in the 100m and 20.76s in the 200m.
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Emmanuel Yeboah is currently a student at Texas A&M University. His PBs are 10.16s and 20.89s in the 100m and 200m respectively.
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Joseph Paul Amoah has a PB of 9.94s, and his 20.08s set in 2019, smashed Emmanuel Tuffour's 24-year-old 200m Ghanaian Record by 0.07s. He also won 200m bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
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These four have combined to achieve impressive feats in the relays, shattering the Ghanaian Record in the 4x100m twice in their period together.
In 2019, the quartet of Safo-Antwi, Azamati, Martin Owusu Antwi, and Paul Amoah won the African Games title in 38.30s. The same quartet were semifinalists at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, running a faster time of 38.24s.
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Then at the 2021 World Relays, they finished third but were disqualified for lane infringement. At the delayed Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, except for Owusu Antwi and the inclusion of Yeboah, the quartet ran a National Record (NR) of 38.08s to finish fifth overall in the semifinal but sadly got disqualified again in the final.
The 2022 World Championships in Oregon saw Oduro Manu step in for Yeboah, where they clocked a new NR of 38.07s for a fifth place finish in the final.
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Their pool is impressive right? Let's skip to a better part. These four are not even the fastest Ghanaian sprinters in 2023, as they have two other young sprinters to draft in the team.
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19:09 - 04.05.2023
Tori Bowie: 13 things you should know about the late world's fastest woman
Here are thirteen things you should know about the talented sprinter and jumper Tori Bowie, who had incredible accomplishments during her lifetime.
Dadzie has a windy 9.89s (3.2) and a legal PB of 10.10s, alongside his world-leading 19.79s in the 200m. Then Abdul-Rasheed Aminu clocked a PB of 10.04s and a 200m PB of 20.50s. Another significant mention is Oduro Manu, with PBs of 10.12s and 20.42s clocked in 2022.
It means Ghana currently have at least eight sprinters in their relay pool that can challenge for the 4x100m world title in Budapest.
While many may think this is a high mountain to climb, Team Canada won the men's 4x100m title in Oregon, blazing to a NR of 37.48s.
Ghana's relay squad have been together since 2019, and have had significant progress since then, improving yearly. Now having a bigger pool of talents to select from and with more experienced tutoring, perfect baton exchange, and leg combinations, the Ghanaian speedsters above have the talents to stun the world.
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