The final night of the 2023 Junior Olympics was closed by the highly-anticipated senior boys and girls relays.

Dosages of close senior 100m heats and finals, throughout the morning and afternoon, setup what was to be a keenly-contested relay final.

In the boy’s category, it was M/S Track and Field who answered the call, leading the field. Hunting Athletics picked up silver, while Spice Athletic Club came in third.

The girls’ category saw an Ashanti Regional dominance, with KASS picking gold. New Generation finished in silver, while Yaa Asantewaa Girls’ took bronze.

Prior to that final, KASS blazed the track in the seniors 100m finals; picking gold in both boys and girls categories.

Benjamin Boakye Nsiah led the field for the boys, while Florence Agyemang did same for the girls. She won four gold medals at the Junior Olympics.

Amongst the four was her 200m gold – a medal she shared yet again with school mate, Boakye Nsiah.

“I’m happy to have come here and won,” was what Nsiah told Joy Sports.

In 2021, just about 300 kids registered for the Junior Olympics, and while 800 athletes registered for this year’s, close to over 1,200 – including U10 athletes from Canada, USA and UK, showed up at the Baba Yara Stadium.

“We want to inculcate the Olympic spirit into these young athletes, and that is exactly what we did,” Elorm Amenakpor, the head of Legon Creative Athletics Club

“The high point of the Junior Olympics was seeing the kids run the U7 60m dash and U10 100m – and then celebrating with the US and Ghana flags. That’s what happens at the Olympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games – and they are doing that now. I was so happy.”

The 2023 World Athletics Championships will take place in Budapest from August 19. The 2024 Olympics is scheduled for July 26 – August 11, but the Commonwealth Games will not come on until 2026.

And while some Ghanaian athletes have already qualified for the World Championships, qualifying more athletes to the Olympics is a goal for Ghana Athletics.

The over 900 young Ghanaian athletes may not be at the immediate global showpieces, but definitely have timelines set for themselves, for the nearest future.

Ghana Athletics CEO, Bawa Fuseini, was pleased with the commitment shown.

“I saw athletes as little as six and seven running and some less than 10, 13 and 18 as well as the seniors. This is a very rare event and it’s very good. We need to sustain [their gains] by giving them more competitions so they can qualify for international competitions so we can get the best out of them.”

One of the most impressive performances at the Junior Olympics was Abigail Abugire’s field leading run in the senior’s 800m final.

She led the track from start to finish finishing with 2:08:49. Her closes competitor, Vance Anchike clocked 2:14:12.