Nigeria deny Ghana gold in 4x100m final

Ghana suffered a heartbreak yesterday as rival Nigeria made a clean sweep of gold medals in the men's 4x100 metres and women's 4x100m final at the University of Ghana Stadum.

Ghana had a significant lead over Nigeria into the anchor leg but poor baton change allowed the Nigerians to recover and sprint their way to gold despite a spirited effort by Joseph Paul Amoah who closed the gap to finish second for a silver medal in a photo finish.

Earlier, there was another setback for Ghana as Tobi Amusan anchored Nigeria's sprint quartet to win gold in the women's 4x100m final, leaving Ghana to finish in third place for a bronze medal.

 Ghana’s female sprinters on cloud nine despite winning bronze in the 4x100m final yesterday

Reminiscent of the men’s relay final at the Abuja Games 20 years ago, both countries started off well, Benjamin Azamati taking off and perfectly handing over to Barnabas Gadayi who did well to maintain the pace and handed over to Solomon Hammond.

However, the change between Hammond and Amoah delayed slightly, allowing the Nigerians to overtake and lead all the way to finish at 38.41secs.

Once Amoah had the baton in the anchor leg, he did his best to catch up, cheered on by the spectators, but it was an effort too late as he finished two micro seconds late at 38.43.

The stadium still celebrated Ghana’s quartet but the athletes were down given that they had come into this race as the African Games record holders of 38.30secs which won them gold at the Rabat Games.

Liberia won bronze in the men’s event, following up from where their women left off moments earlier.

The Liberian men with a time of 38.73 seconds did not only win silver but also set a new national record.

There was further success in the track for Nigeria as Tobi Amusan won the women’s 100m hurdles despite a faulty start, which earned her a warning.

When the race was restarted, the world-record holder was unstoppable as she crossed the line in a time of 12.89 seconds.

She left in her trail Madagascar’s Fiadanantsoa to finish second (13.19 seconds) and Zimbabwe’s Tinashie Ashley Kumangirira to win bronze (13.59 sec).