Ghana’s sprint stars miss podium on disappointing day

Home advantage counted for little as Ghana’s much-hyped sprint stars stumbled badly on a bruising second day of the 2026 African Athletics Championships, leaving the University of Ghana Stadium frustrated after a succession of disappointing performances, missed medals and fading hopes of a dominant showing on home soil.

With home fans expecting Ghana’s celebrated sprinters to ignite the championships, the night instead unravelled into a catalogue of near-misses and underwhelming finishes, headlined by the failure of national record holder Abdul Rasheed Saminu and team captain Joseph Paul Amoah to reach the podium in the men’s 100 metres final.

The result stunned a packed stadium that had anticipated a statement performance from Ghana’s fastest men on home soil.

Instead, Cameroun’s Emmanuel Esme snatched gold in 10.25 seconds after a dramatic photo-finish, edging South Africa’s Bradley Nkoana, who took silver in 10.31 seconds, while Nigeria’s Chidera Ezeakor secured bronze in the same time.

Amoah could only finish fourth in 10.32 seconds despite looking sharp earlier in the afternoon when he comfortably won his semi-final heat. Saminu, widely viewed as Ghana’s strongest gold-medal prospect, endured an even more disappointing finish, crossing sixth in 10.36 seconds.

For several anxious minutes, athletes and spectators waited nervously as officials studied the photo-finish to separate one of the tightest sprint finals of the championships. When the verdict finally arrived, the silence around the stadium said everything — the medals had slipped away.

Earlier, Edwin Gadayi’s campaign had already ended in disappointment after he failed to progress from the semi-finals, compounding a difficult evening for the host nation’s sprint programme.

Amoah admitted the performance fell below expectations but insisted Ghana’s sprinters still had enough firepower to rescue the championships.

“We know this was not what Ghanaians expected from us, but we still have the 200m and the 4x100m relay, which are two of our strongest events,” Amoah said afterwards, promising a stronger response from the team.

The disappointments extended well beyond the men’s sprints with little relief for the home crowd.

In the women’s 100m hurdles, promising Ghanaian hurdler Evonne Britton narrowly missed out on a medal after finishing fourth in a high-quality final dominated by Nigeria’s world record holder Tobi Amusan.

Amusan powered to gold in 12.83 seconds ahead of Zimbabwe’s Ashley Miller, who claimed silver in 13.24 seconds, while Nigeria’s Adaobi Tabugbo completed the podium in third place.

Britton’s performance showed flashes of promise but ultimately reinforced Ghana’s broader struggle to convert potential into medals on a day when expectations repeatedly collided with harsh reality.

The disappointment deepened in the men’s 10,000 metres final where national record holder William Amponsah endured a difficult race, finishing a distant 10th in 29:02 minutes despite arriving at the championships openly targeting gold.

Kenya’s Kelvin Chesang dominated the event in 28:30 minutes ahead of Ethiopia’s Hagos Eyo Gared and fellow Kenyan Silas Senchura.

Amponsah, however, refused to hide behind excuses despite revealing he almost missed the championships because of personal difficulties.

“I nearly couldn’t even come because of some personal issues, but I said this competition comes every two years and I couldn’t miss it on my home soil,” he told the Daily Graphic.

“This was also my first track race, but no excuses. I will go back, work harder and come back stronger.”

The setbacks continued in the field events where Ghana’s Otchere Yeboah finished seventh in the men’s long jump final won by South Africa’s Luvo Mayonga with an impressive leap of 8.15 metres.

Senegal’s Lys Mendy secured silver with 8.07m while compatriot Amath Faye settled for bronze after jumping 8.00m.

Ghana’s difficult evening finally closed with another flat performance in the mixed 4x400m relay where the host nation laboured to a dispiriting fifth-place finish behind winners Nigeria.

Ironically, it was Nigeria that emerged as one of the biggest winners of the night, further underlining the widening competitive gap Ghana must urgently close. Rosemary Chukwuma delivered another Nigerian triumph by capturing gold in the women’s 100m final — a race notably without a Ghanaian athlete in the starting blocks.