Joseph Paul Amoah – Captain of Team Ghana

 The United States of America last weekend announced a 592-mem­ber Olympic Team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the Paralym­pic Games scheduled to start from July 26.

The team includes more than 250 Olympians who will be competing in the Games for the second time. It also has three five-time Olympians, four four-time Olympians, 16 three-time Olympians and more than 50 two-time Olympians.

The veteran group includes 122 Olympic medalists, including 66 Olym­pic champions who have won a total of 110 gold medals. Forty-five athletes have won multiple Olympic medals, while 23 have won multiple Olympic gold medals.

Other powerful sport­ing nations including the France, Germany, Netherlands, Ethiopia, Kenya and others have all announced impres­sive squads for the showpiece with not less than 10 medal prospects.

For Ghana with a squad number of nine athletes to be captained by Joseph Paul Amoah (Athletics) with virtually no Olympics credentials, it would be a time to embrace the assuring Olympic motto that motivates countries with less pedigree to keep participating.

But for that principle which reads that, “The important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part; the important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle; the essential thing is not to have con­quered but to have fought well,” Team Ghana would have no business being at the Games.

Far from sounding skeptical, one can comfortably urge Ghanaians not to be highly expectant as far as winning medals was concerned.

Thankfully, the team’s preparation and discussions on winning medals have been on low key, perhaps due to this reality.

For the Team Ghana cap­tain, Amoah, it will be his second appearance at the Olympics and would ride on the back of that previous experience to lead the team.

The nine-member team would also have Fuseini Ibrahim (4×100), Isaac Botsio (4×100), Benjamin Azamati (4×100, 100m), Edwin Gadayi (4×100), and Abdul Rasheed Saminu (100, 200m).

Others include Joselle Mensah (swimming), Harry Stacey (swimming), and Rose Yeboah (high jump).

But they lack the promise of a side capable of adding to Ghana’s five med­als from the Olympics Games made up of one silver and four bronze.

Amoah was unable to qualify for the 200m race for failing to meet the competition’s 48-athlete quota with his 62nd world ranking.

He would, however, compete in the 4x100m after leading the relay team to qualification at the World Athletics Relay in the Bahamas.

He would compete in the 4x100m relay alongside Benjamin Azamati, Edwin Gadayi, and Solomon Hammond.

Abdul-Rasheed Saminu only gained qualification to run in the 100m race via the World Athletics ranking system and not by a competitive time.

Of the 56 top athletes expected for the event, he is ranked 54th.

Azamati also secured qualification through the ranking system after plac­ing 39th.

The statistics present a gloomy picture and put Team Ghana in the category of firm believers of this Olym­pics principle, aiming at participation and not necessarily to win.

By Andrew Nortey