Sports News of Thursday, 8 August 2024

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

2024 Olympics: Saminu opens up on why Team Ghana struggled with baton exchange in 4x100m relay

Ghanaian athlete Abdul Rasheed Saminu Ghanaian athlete Abdul Rasheed Saminu

Ghanaian athlete Abdul Rasheed Saminu has explained why Ghana’s Relay Team had issues with the exchange of the baton in the Men’s 4x100m relay at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Ghana’s Relay Team was disqualified from the Men’s 4x100m relay as a result of the final changeover from the third leg to the anchor leg.

Rasheed Saminu, who began the race for Ghana, disclosed after the race that he had issues with the initial changeover.

“I think I missed the hand on the first call, so I had to bring it back again to make the legal contact,” Saminu explained in an interview with JoySports.

He added, “Next time we just make sure we correct the mistakes and come back again.”

Rasheed Saminu, the first leg, got off to a good start, but he struggled with his changeover to the second leg, Benjamin Azamati, which affected the momentum of their race.

Azamati got his change to the third leg, Ibrahim Fuseini, right, but the final change to the anchor leg, Joseph Paul Amoah, was delayed yet again and happened outside the required zone. Therefore, their sixth place in Heat 2 with a time of 38.62s was invalid.

China emerged as the winner of the heats, clocking 38.24s. France came second with 38.34s, while Canada took the third spot with 38.39s.

The event brought an end to Ghana’s journey at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

JNA/NOQ