Ghana secures first individual qualifiers for Paris 2024 Olympics

Ghanaian athletics witnessed a historic moment this weekend as sprinter Abdul-Rasheed Saminu and high jumper Rose Yeboah became the nation's first athletes to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics as individuals.

Previously, only Ghana's 4x100m men's relay team had secured their Olympic spot.

Rose Yeboah stole the show on Saturday at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Oregon, soaring over a new National Record of 1.97 meters to claim gold and automatic Olympic qualification. The 22-year-old, representing the University of Illinois, shattered multiple records in the process. Her jump stands as a new NCAA record, collegiate record, school record, meet record, and personal best, surpassing her previous national record of 1.94 meters.

Yeboah's accomplishment adds another golden chapter to her already impressive resume.  She secured her second consecutive African Games gold medal in March this year, along with an African Senior Athletics Championship title in 2022 and a World University Championship win in 2023.  Remarkably, Yeboah only transferred to the University of Illinois last fall and has dominated the scene ever since.

Yeboah joined fellow Ghanaian Abdul-Rasheed Saminu who qualified a day earlier in the history books. 

Competing for the University of South Florida, Saminu booked his Olympic ticket in the men's 200m on Friday night.  Clocking a blistering 20.12 seconds to finish third, Saminu secured his spot in Paris as the Olympic qualifying standard sits at 20.16 seconds.  This achievement made him the first Ghanaian athlete to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics in an individual event.

Saminu nearly secured another qualification in the 100m, finishing fifth with a time of 10.02 seconds, just shy of the qualifying mark.  Despite missing the mark in the 100m, Saminu's performance earned him First Team All-American honors in both events.