Ghana aims to send 32 athletes to Paris Olympics despite qualification challenges
With five months remaining until the start of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, no Ghanaian athlete has yet secured qualification for the games.
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However, the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) remains optimistic about sending about 32 athletes to the multi-sport event.
Ghana's Chef de Mission for Paris 2024, Isaac Aboagye Duah, expressed confidence that despite the current situation, Ghanaian athletes would secure their spots in the Olympics by the end of March, following the conclusion of various qualifying tournaments, including the African Games.
In a telephone interview with the Daily Graphic yesterday, Mr. Duah acknowledged setbacks in the country's athletics program, citing injuries suffered by several track stars, including Ghana's fastest man, Benjamin Azamati, in the fourth quarter of 2023.
However, he remained hopeful that as the outdoor season begins in March, many of the country's sprinters, particularly the men's relay team and female jumpers, would qualify for the games.
Mr. Duah also expressed optimism about Ghana's national boxing team, the Black Bombers, securing Olympic slots at the Olympic boxing qualifier in Milan scheduled for March 4-11, 2024. He noted that unlike the previous qualifying attempt in Dakar, Senegal, where only gold medal winners were granted berths, this time gold, silver, and bronze medalists would qualify.
Furthermore, Mr. Duah expressed confidence in Ghana's Black Queens overturning the 0-1 deficit from their first-leg qualifier against Zambia, keeping their Olympic hopes alive.
He assured that Ghana would be represented at the Olympics, highlighting that eight events in the African Games serve as Olympic qualifiers.
"Ghana will be duly represented in the Olympics games, eight events in the African Games are Olympic qualifiers and we can also make it through that means," he said.
"At the last Olympics in Tokyo, Ghana had a contingent of 14 athletes, comprising three boxers, two swimmers, a judoka and a weighlifter each with the remaining being track and field athletes. Working around that figure, we are hoping to add a soccer team of 18 players to that number for the paris games.
"It is not the end of the qualifying season for the Olympic Games, we will make it either through the African Games of through the universality of the wildcard route".
Team Ghana is scheduled to camp in the French city of Strasbourg during the Olympics from Friday, July 26, 2024, to Sunday, August 11, 2024.
