The chef de mission for Ghana’s Olympic team, Chris Essilfie, has warned Ghanaians against putting pressure on the country’s athletes to win medals at the ongoing Rio Olympics when the state has failed to invest in them.
His comment comes following the exit of teenage swimmer Kaya Forson and judoka Szandra Szogedi from the ongoing Olympic Games in Rio.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Class Sports’ Kwame Dwomoh-Agyemang, Mr Essilfie said: “Because we have not invested so much in them, we should not put unnecessary pressure on them. Nigerians have about 77 athletes qualifying; they‘ve invested so much money in them, but what have we done in the last three years?”
He described assertions that Ghana might not win any medal in the ongoing games as “technically bankrupt, intellectually fatal, and emotionally distractive”.
According to him, qualification to the games was the same across the world and, therefore, all the athletes, irrespective of where they came from, had equal chance of winning a medal.
“Anybody who qualifies, the standards are the same all over the world. Whether you qualified in Korea or Ghana, standards are the same and so we all have equal chances of winning a medal,” Mr Essilfie explained.
The next Ghanaian to participate in the Olympics will be Abeiku Gyekye Jackson, who will be in the men’s 50m freestyle swimming. Abdul Omar will also take on Argentine Alberto Ezequiel Melian in the men’s 56kg boxing on Thursday August 11.
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
