Ghanaian long jump athlete, Deborah Acquah, has received her UK visa, only 48 hours before she is scheduled to compete in the event at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Joy Sports can confirm that the 24-year-old received her passport from the UK High Commission in New York on Tuesday night and was immediately booked on an Air France flight out of her base in College Station, Texas on Wednesday morning.

It’s the start of a tortuous 23-hour journey that includes an 8-hour layover in Dallas FT Worth International Airport, through Paris, before eventually arriving in Birmingham at 9:45am, a mere 24 hours before the long jump event starts on Friday morning.

Acquah becomes the 3rd Ghanaian athlete to leave for the games late, following Wednesday morning’s arrivals of sprinters Hor Halutie and Latifa Ali.

The national long jump record holder (6.89m) is one of Ghana’s hopes for a medal at the games.

Ranked 5th in the world this year, she failed to qualify for the long jump finals at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon at the start of this month.

The Texas A&M student won a silver medal for Ghana at the 2019 African Games in Rabat.