National 100m record holder, Benjamin Azamati says he was tensed prior to his race at the Olympic Games earlier this year.

Having earned the title as Ghana’s fastest man, Azamati was touted as one of the favourites to get Ghana a medal at the games in Tokyo.

However, the 23-year-old failed to make it past the heats after finishing fourth in heat 7 behind Australia’s Rohan Browning, Yohan Blake of Jamaica and Great Britain’s Chijindu Ujah.

His speed of 10.13 seconds was not enough to guarantee him a place in the semi final of the 100m as he missed out on a medal.

Speaking to Joy Sports, Azamati revealed he felt nervous prior to the start of the race as he was representing the whole of Ghana.

“Representing Ghana and being a Ghanaian record holder, it brings a lot of pressure. So I was really nervous getting there [Olympic Games].

“And to talk about the second fastest human in the world being next to you, that was extra. I didn’t have the experience like them. If you could hear the commentator [before the race] he was praising me for my performances in the college system but I had been running all by myself, so I didn’t have the experience the people have. At that moment, they beat me to it psychologically because I was nervous.”

Azamati also added that despite running in the college system, the games in Tokyo has been the biggest platform for him so far.

“The Olympics was the biggest stage I’ve ever gone to aside the world championship. The world championship is one I didn’t get the chance to run an individual race but at the Olympics Games I was there running an individual race.”

Azamati is looking to compete at next year’s big meets including the World Athletics Championship in Oregon and the Commonwealth games in Birmingham.