{"id":118921,"date":"2026-05-18T12:12:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T12:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=118921"},"modified":"2026-05-18T12:12:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T12:12:03","slug":"african-athletics-champs-no-gold-for-ghana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=118921","title":{"rendered":"African Athletics Champs: No gold for Ghana"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 48 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>

Ghana\u2019s long wait to hear the national anthem at the 24th African Senior Athletics Championships ended in heartbreak yesterday after team captain Joseph Paul Amoah failed to deliver the elusive gold medal on the final day of competition at the University of Ghana Stadium.
\nWith the weight of a nation\u2019s expectations on his shoulders, Amoah carried Ghana\u2019s last realistic hope of climbing to the top of the podium but could only finish fifth in a fiercely contested men\u2019s 200m final, bringing the curtain down on the host nation\u2019s campaign without a single gold medal.<\/p>\n

The Ghanaian sprinter clocked 20.83 seconds in a race dominated by C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire\u2019s explosive Chekina Traore, who stormed to gold in 20.32 seconds. Botswana\u2019s Selepe Phaeisel claimed silver in 20.43, while South Africa\u2019s Mihlali Xhotyeni secured bronze in 20.57.
\nFor Ghana, it was a painful conclusion to a championship that repeatedly flirted with glory but ultimately exposed the gap between promise and podium dominance at continental level.
\nThe hosts finished the six-day championships with five medals \u2014 one silver and four bronze \u2014 leaving the packed home crowd with moments of excitement but no defining golden finish to celebrate.
\nHigh jumper Esther Ohenewaa emerged as Ghana\u2019s standout performer, producing a personal best leap of 1.81 metres to secure the country\u2019s only silver medal of the championships.
\nBronze medals came through Florence Agyemang in the women\u2019s 400m, Alex Amankwah in the men\u2019s 800m, and Ghana\u2019s men\u2019s and women\u2019s 4x100m relay teams, whose performances briefly lifted the atmosphere inside the Legon stadium on Friday evening.
\nBut the final weekend delivered more frustration than celebration.
\nSaturday and Sunday proved particularly difficult for Team Ghana, with disappointing performances in both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s 200m events. Amoah was the only Ghanaian to survive the rounds and reach a final.
\nThere was one final opportunity to rescue the campaign in the closing events of the championships \u2014 the men\u2019s and women\u2019s 4x400m relays.
\nThe women\u2019s quartet, anchored by a youthful side that included a Senior High School student on lead-off duty, produced a spirited display and came agonisingly close to another medal before finishing fourth behind Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya.
\nThe men\u2019s team endured an even harsher finish, crossing the line last in a race won by Zimbabwe, with Morocco and Kenya completing the podium places.
\nWhen the dust settled on the championships, Ghana\u2019s five-medal haul left the hosts ranked 15th out of 49 participating nations, with only 24 countries managing to reach the medal table.
\nWhile Ghana struggled for gold, South Africa underlined their continental dominance by topping the standings with eight gold, two silver and five bronze medals for a total of 15 medals.
\nKenya finished second with five gold, four silver and five bronze medals, while Ethiopia placed third with five gold, three silver and five bronze.
\nWest African rivals Nigeria also outperformed the hosts, finishing fourth with four gold, three silver and two bronze medals.
\nYet beneath Ghana\u2019s modest medal return lay a more complicated picture.
\nThe championships exposed familiar weaknesses in elite preparation and depth at senior level, but they also revealed the emergence of a fearless new generation of young athletes capable of competing against Africa\u2019s best.<\/p>\n

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\n

\"Ghana<\/p>\n

Ghana\u2019s long wait to hear the national anthem at the 24th African Senior Athletics Championships ended in heartbreak yesterday after team captain Joseph Paul Amoah failed to deliver the elusive gold medal on the final day of competition at the University of Ghana Stadium.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the weight of a nation\u2019s expectations on his shoulders, Amoah carried Ghana\u2019s last realistic hope of climbing to the top of the podium but could only finish fifth in a fiercely contested men\u2019s 200m final, bringing the curtain down on the host nation\u2019s campaign without a single gold medal.<\/p>\n

The Ghanaian sprinter clocked 20.83 seconds in a race dominated by C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire\u2019s explosive Chekina Traore, who stormed to gold in 20.32 seconds. Botswana\u2019s Selepe Phaeisel claimed silver in 20.43, while South Africa\u2019s Mihlali Xhotyeni secured bronze in 20.57.<\/p>\n

For Ghana, it was a painful conclusion to a championship that repeatedly flirted with glory but ultimately exposed the gap between promise and podium dominance at continental level.<\/p>\n

The hosts finished the six-day championships with five medals \u2014 one silver and four bronze \u2014 leaving the packed home crowd with moments of excitement but no defining golden finish to celebrate.<\/p>\n

High jumper Esther Ohenewaa emerged as Ghana\u2019s standout performer, producing a personal best leap of 1.81 metres to secure the country\u2019s only silver medal of the championships.<\/p>\n

Bronze medals came through Florence Agyemang in the women\u2019s 400m, Alex Amankwah in the men\u2019s 800m, and Ghana\u2019s men\u2019s and women\u2019s 4x100m relay teams, whose performances briefly lifted the atmosphere inside the Legon stadium on Friday evening.<\/p>\n

But the final weekend delivered more frustration than celebration.<\/p>\n

Saturday and Sunday proved particularly difficult for Team Ghana, with disappointing performances in both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s 200m events. Amoah was the only Ghanaian to survive the rounds and reach a final.<\/p>\n

There was one final opportunity to rescue the campaign in the closing events of the championships \u2014 the men\u2019s and women\u2019s 4x400m relays.<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s quartet, anchored by a youthful side that included a Senior High School student on lead-off duty, produced a spirited display and came agonisingly close to another medal before finishing fourth behind Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya.<\/p>\n

The men\u2019s team endured an even harsher finish, crossing the line last in a race won by Zimbabwe, with Morocco and Kenya completing the podium places.<\/p>\n

When the dust settled on the championships, Ghana\u2019s five-medal haul left the hosts ranked 15th out of 49 participating nations, with only 24 countries managing to reach the medal table.<\/p>\n

While Ghana struggled for gold, South Africa underlined their continental dominance by topping the standings with eight gold, two silver and five bronze medals for a total of 15 medals.<\/p>\n

Kenya finished second with five gold, four silver and five bronze medals, while Ethiopia placed third with five gold, three silver and five bronze.<\/p>\n

West African rivals Nigeria also outperformed the hosts, finishing fourth with four gold, three silver and two bronze medals.<\/p>\n

Yet beneath Ghana\u2019s modest medal return lay a more complicated picture.<\/p>\n

The championships exposed familiar weaknesses in elite preparation and depth at senior level, but they also revealed the emergence of a fearless new generation of young athletes capable of competing against Africa\u2019s best.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,103],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","category-travel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=118921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118921\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=118921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=118921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=118921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}