Ghana’s C’wealth Games medalists lauded for making nation proud

The Minister for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, has commended Ghana’s medalists at the just-ended 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham for making the nation proud.

The Minister, who met with the medalists and officials at his office in Accra yesterday, said the success chalked at the Games would be built upon to ensure Ghana won more medals in subsequent global competitions.

“The President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo and the entire country is very proud of your exploits, and would urge you to continue working hard to make the nation proud in future competitions,” he stated.

Government, he said, recognised the Games as huge opportunity for athletes to showcase their talents, gain exposure and win medals for the country.

Team Ghana won a total of five medals including two silver and three bronze at the Games with the national boxing team – Black Bombers, leading Ghana’s exploits at the global showpiece.

Abraham Mensah grabbed silver in bantamweight division, while Joseph Commey also settled for silver in the featherweight division with Abdul Wahid Omar bringing home a bronze medal. On the track, Joseph Paul Amoah won bronze in the 200m, while long jumper Deborah Acquah also grabbed bronze after an impressive 6.95 meters jump in the finals.

“The target was to get gold, silver and bronze medals, but unfortunately we could not get gold but certainly we would improve on the performance in the next Commonwealth Games. The President is proud of your achievements by lifting high the flag of Ghana at the Commonwealth Games amidst over 70 countries with many going home without a medal,” the Minister stated.

He said Ghana had improved tremendously on the previous performance at the Commonwealth Games where the country won only a medal.

“The huge improvement shows that we could come home with 10 medals at the next Commonwealth Games. This is the beginning of more things to come as all federations can testify the huge investments we are making in sports, from badminton, athletics and others,” he stressed.

The government, he said, was committed to developing sports in the country and hence would ensure that athletes were provided with the needed resources to excel.

Mr Ussif, however, cautioned the athletes not to be complacent but work harder to improve upon their medals in 2023, during the African Games and the next Commonwealth Games.

He said arrangements would be made for the team to present their medals to the President in coming days.

The Chef de Mission for the Games, Frederick Acheampong, also praised the Minister for the support which ensured that they excelled at the competition.

“We had the chance to go to Birmingham and acclimatize with conditions before the Games which resulted in the successes we are witnessing today. We could have won more medals but grateful for the personal commitment from the government,” he added.

Mr Acheampong also presented a medal of participation from the Commonwealth Games to the Minister.

BY MICHAEL D. ABAYATEYE