Ghana’s men’s 4×100 metres relay team has secured a fourth consecutive appearance at the World Athletics Championships, recovering from Saturday’s disappointment to qualify through the repechage round at the Debswana World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, Botswana.
The quartet of Abdul-Rasheed Saminu, Benjamin Azamati, Joseph Paul Amoah and Edwin Gadayi finished second in Heat 1 of Sunday’s repechage with a time of 38.09 seconds, clinching one of two available qualification spots for the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing, China.
The turnaround was a significant one. On Saturday, the same foursome had placed fourth in Heat 3 with a time of 38.19 seconds, finishing behind South Africa, Great Britain and China and missing automatic qualification by the narrowest of margins. Former Ghana athletics coach Elorm Amenakpor, who expressed disappointment after Saturday’s race, had called on the team to “do whatever it takes” to secure the spot, warning that missing out would be especially costly given that only 16 countries qualify for the event globally.
The team’s preparations had also been disrupted before the competition began. Ibrahim Fuseini, who had been named in the original squad, was unable to travel due to flight complications and cancellations, forcing the Ghana Athletics Association to draft Gadayi into the team at the last minute. Despite that disruption, the revised squad delivered when it mattered.
On Saturday, a less-than-smooth baton exchange on the second leg affected the team’s rhythm, with analysts noting that execution in the changeover zones had cost Ghana vital fractions. Sunday’s improved performance showed the team had addressed those issues under pressure.
The Gaborone competition marks the first time the World Athletics Relays has been hosted on African soil, with Botswana’s national stadium providing the backdrop for what proved to be a historic weekend for continental athletics.
