Ghana sweeps its record medal haul in African Games

Surpassing all previous benchmarks, Ghana clinched a remarkable sixth place overall on the medal tally, bagging an impressive total of 68 medals—19 gold, 29 silver and 20 bronze. This feat eclipsed Ghana's previous best of 27 medals during the 1973 African Games in Lagos, marking an extraordinary leap from its 2019 outing in Rabat, where Ghana secured 13 medals, finishing a distant 15th.

Weightlifter Winnifred Ntumi delivered Ghana's first medal at the African Games and ignited a blaze of success among Ghana’s athletes and teams, spanning disciplines including swimming, arm wrestling, athletics, boxing, hockey, taekwondo, volleyball, men's 3x3 basketball and football over the course of three electrifying weeks.

Golden Friday

The penultimate day of competition last Friday witnessed an unprecedented surge in gold medals for Ghana across athletics, hockey, boxing and football. The Black Satellites clinched a thrilling 1-0 victory over Uganda to win gold, a day after the Black Princesses defeated Nigeria 2-1 to win the women's football competition.

A highlight of Ghana's success was the outstanding debut of the armwrestling team, with the Golden Arms clinching an impressive eight gold medals and a total of 41 medals. Their spectacular performance not only elevated Ghana's standing on the medal table but also served as a beacon of inspiration for fellow athletes to excel.

Ghana's female hockey team won gold last Friday after defeating Nigeria 4-3 on penalties, although the men's team fell short in the final, losing 1-3 to Egypt in a penalty shootout.

Boxing earned its place of pride as Samuel Takyi, Ghana’s sole medallist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, won gold last Friday, alongside teammates Joseph Commey, Mohammed Aryeetey and Mohammed Amadu.

There was also a piece of sporting history by Janet Acquah who won bronze in the minimum weight (48kg) category, becoming Ghana's first female boxing medalist at the African Games.

Athletics took centre stage, drawing crowds at the University of Ghana Stadium, where Rose Amoanimaa Yeboah's dominance in the women's high jump event inspired her teammates to medal-winning performances.

Last Friday, Joseph Paul Amoah thrilled spectators with a gold-winning sprint in the men's 200m final. Minutes later, Evans Yamoah claimed gold in the men's high jump as he cleared a height of 2.23 metres to add to Ghana's gold tally.

The 13th African Games in Accra featured the largest array of disciplines to date, with 29 events—three more than in Rabat in 2019. Welcoming over 5,000 elite athletes and coaches from 54 African nations, the event showcased the continent's sporting excellence and served as a platform for Olympic qualification in eight events — athletes, swimming, cycling, badminton, wrestling, tennis, table tennis and triathlon.