Ghana’s 4x100m men’s relay team has been disqualified albeit failing to be counted in the heats for a place in the final.
A poor baton change between Abdul-Rasheed Saminu and Benjamin Kwaku-Azamati, who handed over to a struggling Ibrahim Fuseini saw a late turn to Joseph-Paul Amoah.
That turn was the team’s undoing.
The team had finished 6th in a time of 38.62s, therefore, would not have made it to the final on Friday.
Jamaica, who were in the same heat, also failed to make the finals.
The race sums up a disappointing campaign for Ghana in this year’s Olympic Games.
The country had failed to present any boxers to the multi-sport event in a discipline that has contributed most to its medal haul.
Though Kwaku-Azamati and Saminu made the semi-finals of the 100m events, they could not make any strong impact as they finished 7th and 9th respectively in the penultimate races.
Azamati, Saminu turn attention to 4×1 after 100m disappointment
Attention was, therefore, turned to the 4x100m men’s relay event, which proved to be the brightest of all the events for any medal for the country.
However, it all came tumbling down with the first baton change as the country’s fastest man waited too long for the fastest Ghanaian athlete at Paris 2024 for the baton.
When he got it, the University of Ghana gradate managed to race to Fuseini, who delayed further in handing over to Amoah, the country’s flagbearer at the Games.
Though the anchor leg got to finish the race, it was too little too late.
Ghana would have to wait for Los Angeles 2028 to seek to pick a medal at the Olympics again.
Before then, however, the athletics team will be in Tokyo in 2025 for the World Athletics Championships.
