Ghana needs to desist from shoddy preparations and take all sporting disciplines seriously if it wishes to make a mark on the international scene and reverse its poor showing at the Olympics, former President of the Ghana Athletics Association Sandy Osei-Agyeman has suggested.
“The performances have not been good. The time they qualified for the competition itself was very late because they should have been out and training with others on a very high level. If they had done that, they could have improved on their performances and built a stronger mental edge,” he told Class Sports’ Hussein Hassan on Monday August 15, 2016.
Team Ghana has endured a poor campaign thus far at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. None of the country’s participating athletes has made it beyond the first round of their respective events. The likes of Abeiku Jackson and Kaya Adwoa Forson, who represented the country in swimming, could only improve upon their personal best, with Sean Sarfo Antwi unable to progress from his heat in the 100m. Janet Amponsah also failed to qualify from heat 4 of the women’s 200m when she placed sixth.
He proposed that the country “should have a programme where we could get them (athletes) involved and that will help. Most times when they come back from the Olympics, they all move on to their personal business and that is it.”
However, he hoped the situation would change for Ghana’s Rio 2016 experience, where athletes have only improved upon their personal best times. He was optimistic that the ladies’ 4x100m relays, which will take place on Thursday August 18, will have some good news for the country.
“I am praying that the ladies will at least make it to the final of the 4x100m relay. They have a good-looking team and the variables for the relays are many. Mistakes could happen from the top countries, all they have to do is be in a good position to take charge,” he stressed.
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
