Africa’s elite track and field athletes began arriving in Accra on Sunday for the 24th African Senior Athletics Championships, which opens on Tuesday at the University of Ghana Sports Stadium in Legon, with the continent’s fastest and most decorated performers set to compete over six days.
The arrival of competing teams coincides with a Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Council meeting taking place in the capital today, attended by World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, who flew into Accra on Saturday. Coe is scheduled to call on President John Dramani Mahama at Jubilee House and meet Sports and Recreation Minister Kofi Iddie Adams, underscoring the global attention that the championship is drawing ahead of its May 12 opening ceremony.
The competition carries particular significance for Ghana, which is hosting the African Senior Athletics Championships for the first time in over four decades, and only the second time in the country’s history. The University of Ghana Stadium, which generated considerable excitement during the 13th African Games, will serve as the competition’s centrepiece, with over 1,000 athletes and officials from across Africa participating in 44 disciplines.
The star power confirmed for Accra 2026 is among the strongest the championship has ever seen. Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan, world record holder in the 100 metres hurdles, leads a formidable Nigerian squad. Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, the Paris Olympic 200 metres champion, arrives as arguably the most commercially compelling name on the start list. Kenya sends its distance royalty in Faith Kipyegon and Beatrice Chebet, while Zambia’s 400 metres Olympian Muzala Samukonga brings further continental medal weight to the field.
Ghana’s own athletes will compete under intense home expectation. The Ghana Athletics Association (GAA) has confirmed the participation of high-jump specialist Rose Amoanimaa Yeboah, sprinters Joseph Paul Amoah and Benjamin Azamati, and the men’s 4×100 metres relay team, who have already qualified for the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing. The Local Organising Committee (LOC), chaired by GCB Bank Managing Director Farihan Alhassan, has procured additional electronic timing equipment certified to World Athletics and Olympic standards.
A technical meeting for all participating delegations is scheduled for Monday, May 11, one day before competition begins and one day after today’s council proceedings conclude.
