The Bank of Africa (BOA), Ghana says it is committed to discovering many untapped talents in athletics, particularly long distance runners across the continent who will in the next few years take the world by storm. This follows the bank’s sponsorship of the 4th Bamako International Marathon which was held on February 19, 2012. Two Ghanaian athletes, Godwin Adukpo and Kassim Mohamed took part in the 42, 195 km marathon and chalked an impressive third and fifth places respectively. The Deputy Managing Director of the BOA, Ronald Marambii at a press briefing in Accra congratulated the Ghanaian contingent not only for their placement in the tournament but for posting impressive times- 2 hours 37 minutes and 2 hours 45 minutes, especially with the limited preparation they had prior to the tournament. He noted Africa abounds in lots of talents but bemoaned the lack of exposure and the paucity in expenditure available for training by African athletes. To this end, the Bank, apart from sponsoring the Bamako International Marathon, has taken the initiative to take care of the cost of training and participation of athletes in ten of its subsidiaries. “From the training they do locally, from the diet, kits, coach expenses all the way to the flight tickets they need to attend this international marathon are big financial budgets to the athletes,” he stated, adding, the BOA appreciates the great opportunities the marathon offers for which reason it has dedicated itself to sponsoring the tournament and the participants. On athletics in Ghana, Mr Marambii said the poor training facilities and exposure has hampered the development of the sports in the country, believing that with major investments the athletes will even post more impressive performances.