Team Ghana will be hoping to end a 24-year wait for an Olympic medal.

2016 Olympics: Ghanaians who have qualified so far

Kweku Zurek Sports News Apr - 22 - 2016 , 16:08

Team Ghana will be hoping to end a 24-year wait for an Olympic medal when the 2016 Olympics gets underway on August 5 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The class of 2016, which at the moment consists of a boxer, four foreign-based track and field athletes, and a paralympic power lifter have expressed confidence in ending Ghana's medal drought since picking their respective tickets for the Games.

The boxer, Abdul Wahid Omar, and the four foreign-based athletes - Flings Joyner Owusu Agyapong, Alexander Amankwah, Sean Safo-Antwi and John Ampomah - are the only Ghanaians to have qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics which take place between August 5 to August 21, while power lifter, Charles Narh Teye, is the lone ranger in the 2016 Summer Paralympics slated for September 7 to September 18.

Below are profiles of Ghana's six Rio 2016 Olympic Games qualifiers: Alexander Amankwah-Qualified for 800 metres (Summer Olympics)

National indoor 800 metres record holder, Alex Amankwah, became the first Ghanaian to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games following a revision of the Rio qualification standards by athletics’ world governing body, IAAF.

The Alabama University student ran a personal best of 1.45.91sec on May 2, 2015, and following the revision of entry standards by the IAAF Council to reflect performances at the Beijing World Championships gained entry.

The 24-year-old last competed for Ghana at the 2015 All Africa Games in Congo, Brazzaville.

Flings Joyner Owusu-Agyapong - Qualified for 100 metres (Summer Olympics)

Flings is the only Ghanaian female athlete to qualify so far after recording a personal best of 11.30 seconds in the 100 metres dash at the 2016 Miami Hurricane Alumni Invitational held last Saturday at the University of Miami, USA, on April 9.

The Syracuse University Public Health and Sociology graduate was born in Toronto, Canada, and has been competing for Ghana since 2009.

She was part of a 4x100m quartet, including Gemma Acheampong, Beatrice Gyaman and Janet Amponsah, who won silver at the 2015 All Africa Games in Congo, Brazzaville.

Abdul Wahid Omar - Qualified for bantamweight boxing category (Summer Olympics)

The hopes of the national amateur boxing team, Black Bombers, were dealt a heavy blow when none of the members of the team qualified for the Olympics at the International Boxing Association (AIBA) All-Olympic Qualifiers in Yaounde, Cameroun.

Abdul Wahid Omar and his compatriot Azumah Mohammed were the only boxers who came close to losing their respective bantamweight and welterweight third place fights which could have granted them entry.

Omar, who won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, missed out of an automatic place after losing his box-off bout against Mohammed Hamout of Morocco.

However, the Rio 2016 Olympic Solidarity scholarship holder was granted a wildcard on April 11 when the AIBA in a letter signed by its Executive Director, Karim Bouzidi, granted him a quota place for the games.

Sean Safo-Antwi - Qualified for 100 metres (Summer Olympics)

Sprinter Sean Safo-Antwi became the second Ghanaian to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games after the IAAF confirmed his nationality switch from Britain to Ghana on March 9.

Safo-Antwi is the third fastest man in the UK this year after lowering his 60m personal best to 6.56 seconds which won him the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix.

He ran the 2016 Olympic 100 metres qualifying mark of 10.16secs at Loughborough (GBR) on July 18, 2015.

The 25-year-old holds dual citizenship and his nationality switch was not opposed by the British Federation.

He is yet to make his debut for Ghana after withdrawing from the 2016 World Indoor Championships at the last minute.

Charles Narh Teye - Qualified for paralympic power lifting (Paralympic Games)

Para power lifter, Charles Narh Teye, is the first Ghanaian para-athlete to qualify for the 2016 Paralympic Games.

Teye is set to make his second successive appearance at the Olympics, having booked his place at an International Paralympic Committee-sanctioned event in Dubai earlier this year.

He had earlier amassed some qualifying points while competing at the 2015 All Africa Games in Brazzaville and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Teye has been the most consistent power lifter in Ghana over the past few years and is recognised as the first Ghanaian power lifter to have competed at the Paralympic Games.

Born at Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region, Teye suffered from a wasting disease in his legs at a very young age and had to undergo a double transtibial amputation.

Currently, he is the General Manager of Pulse Fitness, a state-of-the-art gymnasium based in Accra.

John Ampomah - Qualified for Javelin (Summer Olympics)

Javelin thrower, John Ampomah, is currently ranked among the top throwers in the world who would be given invitations to participate in the Olympics.

The 25-year-old has already obliterated the national record nine times in his young career, including a Personal Best of 82.94 metres which won him silver at the 2015 All Africa Games.