Ghanaian athletes brace for final Olympic qualification

Ghana's homegrown athletes will have their final chance to qualify for the Olympics at the 23rd African Athletics Championships from June 21-26 in Douala, Cameroun.

The African Championships represent the second and last opportunity this month for Ghana's local athletes to secure qualification for the Paris Olympics after none of Team Ghana met the Olympic Qualifying Standards at last week's Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Region II Championships in Accra.

Despite winning 10 gold medals, no athletes from Team Ghana or any other participating nation at the Region II Championships met the qualifying mark.

So far, only the men's 4x100-metres relay team, 200 metres sprinter, Abdul-Rasheed Saminu, and high jumper Rose Yeboah have qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

A member of Ghana's 4x400 metres relay team who won gold at the Region II Championships,  Isreal Anane Domeh, is looking forward to securing a spot at the Olympics by meeting the Olympic Qualifying Time.

In an interview with the Graphic Sports, Domeh, who started the race for Team Ghana, said although they won gold, he was disappointed that the team was unable to qualify for the Olympic Games 4x400-metre relay race.

"It feels great to win a gold medal but unfortunately we could not make the Olympic Qualifying Time. Hopefully, we get another chance to qualify at the Senior African Championships in Cameroun," he said.

Ghana Athletics is expected to name a contingent of 18 athletes for the African Championships later today (Monday).

At the end of the African Championships, athletes will have only six days to achieve the Olympic Qualifying Time, with the deadline for the individual events, 10,000 metres, combined events, and relays set to close on June 30.

In an interview, the Vice President of Ghana Athletics (Administration), Charles Osei-Asibey, said his outfit was confident a lot more of the athletes would qualify before June 30.

"We are not disappointed by the results. Our athletes ran better today than they did in the African Games. Our female 4x100 relay team, 10,000 men, High Jump men & women and others were all an improvement," he said.

"Qualification is work in progress. We're confident a lot more will qualify before June 30. We will present a team of 18 on Monday. We only need the continuous support of corporate Ghana and the sports ministry. Athletics, the result-oriented and consistent discipline in the last 12years, will again deliver on promise".

Athletes can qualify for the Paris 2024 Games in two ways: 50 per cent of qualification places are based on achieving the entry standard for an event within the qualification period, and the other 50 per cent are based on the World Athletics Ranking within the ranking period.