Ghana’s Martha Bissah became the first Ghanaian to win an Olympic gold medal at any level after running a massive personal best and a new national record of 2:04.90 to snatch victory in the 800m final at the ongoing Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China on Saturday.

17-year-old Bissah, who is the reigning national Sea and Shore National Circuit 800m Champion, kept pace with an early break-away group before out pacing her opponents with about 150 meters to end the race.

The former Aduman Senior High School student, who won a bronze medal at the 2014 African Youth Games in May, beat the African champion, Ethiopia’s Hawi Alemu Negeri to first place. Hawi came second in 2:06.01(PB) while Germany’s Mareen Kalis took third place in 2:06.03.

In the process, Bissah erased her own personal best of 2:06.32 which she ran at the just ended 19th African Athletics Championship where she exited the competition at the semi final stage.