Fearless schoolgirls rescue pride with 4x100m bronze: Ghana’s sprint kings stumble

Ghana’s much-vaunted men’s sprint relay team cracked under the weight of expectation, but an unheralded women’s quartet drawn largely from the country’s Senior High School system restored pride and ignited the University of Ghana Stadium with a stirring bronze-medal performance at the 24th African Athletics Championships yesterday.

In a dramatic evening of mixed emotions in Legon, Ghana’s established male stars — tipped by many as favourites for gold after their recent qualification to the 2027 World Championships — failed to deliver on the continent’s biggest stage, settling for bronze in the men’s 4x100m final behind fierce rivals Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria.

Yet while the nation’s headline sprint acts faltered, a fearless young women’s team exceeded every expectation, producing a courageous and electrifying display to also secure bronze in the women’s 4x100m and trigger scenes of wild celebration among the home supporters.

Contrasting fortunes

The contrast could not have been more striking. For the men’s relay team, this was supposed to be redemption night.

After Ghana’s leading sprinters endured disappointment in the individual 100m events, the relay had become the country’s clearest route to gold and a chance to reaffirm their growing reputation following strong performances on the international circuit.

The anticipation inside the packed stadium was immense. As the athletes settled into their blocks under the floodlights, the noise levels surged to fever pitch, with the home crowd sensing a defining moment. But Ghana’s race never truly exploded into life.

Lead-off runner Edwin Gadayi failed to produce the blistering start required against a high-quality field, immediately placing Ghana on the back foot. Team captain Joseph Paul Amoah responded superbly on the second leg, powering down the back straight to reel the leaders back into contention and inject fresh belief into the stadium.

Ibrahim Fuseni maintained the momentum with a clean baton exchange before handing over to national 100m record holder Abdul Rasheed Saminu for the anchor leg. But despite a ferocious finish from US-based Saminu, Ghana simply had too much ground to recover.

Côte d’Ivoire stormed to gold in 38.52 seconds to claim continental bragging rights, while Nigeria secured silver in 38.70 seconds. Ghana crossed the line in third place in 38.74 seconds — painfully close to silver but far from the gold the home fans had craved.

Amoah admitted the team had fallen short of its own expectations but quickly shifted focus to today’s men’s 200m, where Ghana will once again chase an elusive first gold medal of the championships.

“We expected better, but there will be another opportunity in the 200 metres, and we promise to go all out,” Amoah told the Daily Graphic.

For Saminu, whose championships ended with the relay final, the race exposed a deeper issue beyond raw speed.

The Ghanaian star pointed to the absence of full team cohesion as the critical factor behind the defeat and expressed confidence that the relay squad would return stronger at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July.

“I am not really disappointed, even though we had high expectations. We shift focus to the Commonwealth Games, by then we would have the full team,” Saminu said.

Brave women rescue pride

If the men’s race ended in frustration, the women’s relay produced one of the emotional high points of the championships.

With little external pressure and modest expectations, Ghana’s youthful quartet — dominated by products of the Senior High School athletics system — ran with remarkable composure and fearlessness against some of Africa’s elite sprint nations.

Teenage sensation Gladys Boateng, popularly known as “Gaza” and a student of St Louis SHS in Kumasi, gave Ghana a sharp opening leg before handing over to Janet Darkoah Kwarteng, the Level 100 University of Cape Coast student whose explosive run down the back straight hauled Ghana firmly into contention.

Experienced campaigner Janet Mensah steadied the team brilliantly on the third leg before handing the baton to TI Ahmadiyya SHS final-year student Aishatu Jaffar — affectionately known as “Odo Broni” — for the decisive anchor.

What followed sent the stadium into delirium. Jaffar held her nerve magnificently under immense pressure and unleashed a devastating burst of top-end speed to chase down the leading pack and seal bronze for Ghana in 44.85 seconds.

As the quartet crossed the line, the stadium erupted in thunderous applause in recognition not just of a medal, but of the courage, composure and promise shown by a young team competing at its first major international championship.

Nigeria underlined their sprint dominance by retaining the women’s title in 42.94 seconds, while Liberia claimed silver in 43.05 seconds — repeating the exact top-three order of Nigeria-Liberia-Ghana from the 2024 African Championships in Cameroun.

Beyond the relays, the championships continued to produce world-class performances. Kenya’s Diana Wanza delivered a commanding masterclass in the women’s 10,000m, destroying the field to win gold in 31 minutes, 33.26 seconds. Rwanda’s Florence Niyonkuru took silver in 31:43.73, while Ethiopia’s Asefu Kiros secured bronze in 31:45.91.

In the women’s shot put, South Africa’s Collete Uyis claimed gold with a throw of 17.63m ahead of Gabon’s Carine Mekam, who registered 16.71m for silver. Kenya’s Belinda Adhiambo completed the podium with bronze after a throw of 16.39m.

At press time, Ghana had accumulated five medals — one silver and four bronze — after four days of competition.

Still without a gold medal on home soil, the hosts will now place their final hopes on the men’s 200m today as the championships reach their climax in Legon.