The Ministry of Youth and Sports has supported athletes, James Dadzie and Joseph Paul Amoah, with an amount of $8000 USD to undergo treatment for injuries they sustained while competing for Ghana at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Dadzie pulled his hamstring about 80m into the race, resulting in a grade II tear in the bicep femoris muscle in his left hamstring. 

Amoah, who has anchored Ghana’s relay team to three national records, finished 5th in his 200m heats and missed out on a place in the semi finals. He later reported feeling a pop sensation accompanied by sudden pain in the lateral front side of his right foot. A subsequent x-ray scan revealed a small fracture at the base of his right big toe.

Their injuries also forced Team Ghana to withdraw from the 4x100m relays, an event many Ghanaians had hoped the team would put up a good showing.

"I sympathise with them, my boss the Hon. Mustapha Ussif also sympathises with them. It was really unfortunate and I was confident without the injury, they would have qualified," Deputy Minister of Sports, Hon. Evans Bobie Opoku told Joy Sports' Fentuo Tahiru Fentuo after meeting the team in Budapest.

"Typically, we would have allowed them to go back to their base before we take action, but due to the generosity of my boss, on this occasion, we have decided to support them with an amount of $8000 to undergo treatment when they go back to the US," he said.

"We still have important competitions coming next year like the Africa Games and the Olympics so it's important that they get back to full fitness soon and competing for Ghana.

"Luckily, the African Games is an olympic qualifier for the athletics so I'm confident they will come and compete and try and qualify for Paris 2024."

On his part, President of Ghana Athletics, Bawah Fuseini, expressed gratitude to the Sports Ministry for their prompt reaction to the athletes' predicament.

"Let me thank the Sports Minister for taking the immediate action to support the athletes to commence treatment shortly. This is the first time the ministry has jumped to the support of athletes in the immediate aftermath of sustaining an injury," he said.

Shattered Dreams

The injury to the duo now means Ghana’s relay team only has three members available and fit, not enough to enter for the race. 

Edwin Gadayi, Isaac Botsio and Raymond French are the only three fit members of the team. 

The turn of events is a huge blow for Team Ghana, whose participation at the Budapest championships has been nothing short of underwhelming, with long jumper Deborah Acquah exiting the competition on the very first day, missing out on a place in the women’s long jump. 

She later told Joy Sports in an exclusive interview that she had been battling an injury for the better part of a year. 

The relays represented Ghana’s brightest hope of a noticeable participation, with the team having made the final of each of the previous four global championships. 

A non-participation in the race could have serious ramifications for Ghana’s chances of qualifying the team for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. 

Making the final in Budapest would have guaranteed the team qualification to the World Relays in the Bahamas in April 2024, where the finalists would then qualify for the Olympic Games, leaving only 4 more slots for the rest to try and qualify. 

Ghana could still qualify for the world relays, but the team would require substantial preparation as well as multiple races to prop them up the rankings.