Major and Latest Boxing news in Ghana

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has announced that bronze medalist at the just-ended Olympics in Tokyo, Samuel Takyi will receive a cash reward of $10,000, a car and a further $20,000 to be put in a career development fund for him.

The President made the announcement when Ghana’s contingent for the Tokyo Olympic Games called on him at the Jubilee House in Accra on Friday August 20, 2021.

In addition, each member of Ghana’s 14-athlete contingent will also receive an amount of $5,000 for their efforts at the games.

All the athletes and officials for the games were also given medals by the president in appreciation of their performance at the games. However, the President announced that government has spent $150,000 in bonuses for Team Ghana’s athletes at the Tokyo Olympics.

“For the first time ever, a Ghanaian athlete, Samuel Takyi, was selected to represent Africa at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games. For the first time in the history of the 4th Republic, Ghana won a medal at the Olympics.

“Out of the 52 African countries that participated at the Olympics, Ghana placed 10th on the continent. This should spur us on to even greater heights in future competitions,” he noted.

“On behalf of the people of Ghana, I say a big hearty ayekoo to all of you. You made the country proud,” President Akufo-Addo added.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) has stated that Takyi would be included in the $5,000 package meant for athletes and officials at the Olympics in Tokyo.

That means the 20-year-old boxer could bag $15,000 cash reward for participating and winning bronze at the games.

"What the President meant was that each athlete and official that represented Team Ghana at the Olympics will receive $5,000 with the $10,000 being a reward for winning the bronze medal," Ben Nunoo Mensah, GOC president explained.

Takyi’s bronze medal in boxing ended the country’s Olympics medal drought since 1992, and ended a 49-year wait for an individual medal at the multi-sport event.

Team Ghana’s 4x100m relay team also set a national record to book a spot in the finals of the event while Joseph Paul Amoah ran the fastest 200m time of any Ghanaian athlete at the games.