Ghana will participate in the upcoming IAAF World Championship in a bid to improve on the poor showing over the past editions.

The nation has just two medals at the championships, a bronze and a silver won by Margaret Simpson and Ignatius Gaisah respectively. One man among the current crop who is hoping to change that is Emmanuel Dasor.

He will run in the 400m with champion Wayde Van Niekerk but says he is unfazed by all the pressure it comes with it. He elaborates more in this interview with Thierry Nyann.



Ans: There are two guys and eight ladies and we are all in different states. We know each other, that’s the thing. Everybody has their coaches. We don’t train under the same coach that’s the thing. Everybody is in school. I am in school, Alex Amankwah trains in Alabama and I train four hours away. Nadia Eke the jumper, Flings the 100 meters runner, Janet is about an hour and half away from me and Flings is all the way in New York so we don’t live together that’s how different it is but we stay in contact through a Whatsapp group so that’s how we chat to know what is going on.

Q: WHAT EXACTLY IS THE AMBITION GOING INTO THE TOURNAMENT FOR YOU PERSONALLY?

Ans. All I want is to win. That is my goal. My goal is not to lose. I’m not just participant. I don’t like to lose so I always try my best I can to win or get to a level where I will make myself proud and make my nation proud so if I’m giving the opportunity which I have been given the opportunity to represent that’s Ghana which I will be wearing the red gold green and the black star in it, it’s an honor for me so I don’t want to let anybody down nor myself down so I will always won’t go out there and do the best as I can.

Q: REALISTICALLY, WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU WILL FINISH?

Ans. Nobody knows in track and field. Our sport is different. My focus is to win so when I’m on the tracks, I don’t care who is in the lane, who is in front of me or who is behind me. I am running my race and I’m running to win that is my mindset.

Q: DO YOU THINK THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IS GOING TO CHALLENGE YOU DURING THE TOURNAMENT TO GIVE UP SOMETHING GHANAIANS HAVE NEVER SEEN? DO YOU THINK THERE IS ANOTHER PERSONAL BEST THAT IS GOING TO BE WITNESSED OUT THERE?

Ans: Definitely, when I compete I don’t focus on running personal best or running a good time. My focus is to be able to move set rounds because we are going out there to run rounds, the heat, semi finals, and finals so my main focus is just run the heat, qualify to the next stage and then win.

That is the mindset so when we training or anything we are doing we don’t set our minds specifically on one thing it’s a broad thing. You just can’t focus on one picture you have to focus in everything and every aspect of that helps you to get there.

Q: WHAT EXACTLY DOES IT FEEL LIKE KNOWING THAT THE MOMENT THE GUN GOES OR EVEN BEFORE THAT YOU HAVE THE FLAG OF GHANA RAISED VERY HIGH BY YOURSELF IN A COMPETITION WHERE THE WHOLE WORLD HAS ITS EYE ON? WHAT EXACTLY DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO BE REPRESENTING YOUR COUNTRY AT A TOURNAMENT LIKE THIS?

Ans: It feels great because I don’t know how many athletes we have and I don’t know the population in Ghana. How many we are about twenty something million I guess I don’t know.

So to be able to get that chance all twenty something million in Ghana and I am the only one to represent my country in the 400m. It’s such a great honor, it’s really something that I hold on to. I don’t joke with it because most people want to go there but they are not getting the chance.

Some are not running fast if I should say may be some things are not going right, some things are going back for them you may never know but to be able to run the qualifying time and to represent the nation, representing the whole twenty something million people is such a great honor and I will give my all out. Dasor will compete against 400m world record holder Wayde van Niekerk .

Q WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR CHALLENGES REPRESENTING GHANA?

Ans: All challenges in sport have always been finance because sports is all about finance. If you don’t have the finances there is no way you can do a whole lot of things but we athletes have made up our mindset from money because money is the fruit of all evil once you put your mindset on money, money money, we need money, we need to do this, we need to do that, yes we do need it so if the nation not trying to help you or trying to support you, what do you have to do ?

Are you going to sit there and watch the nation do nothing or you going to help yourself, at the end of the day is me, I am running even though I am representing Ghana any benefits that comes come to me so I have to invest in myself too so I don’t really focus on what I need form the nation, what the nation can do for me I will rather focus on what I can do for myself and when the nation comes to help me then it’s like bonus to me a miracle to me that’s what I focus on now.

I don’t care about money or anything I just want to focus on my competition and focus on my goal ahead, my dreams, what I want to achieve in life and I just hit it one step at a time and I keep making myself proud.

Q: DO YOU HAVE ANY MESSAGE FOR YOUR FANS?

Ans: I just want to say a big thank Ghana for always giving me the opportunity to represent my nation. I thank my family, they always be with me, pray for me, fast for me all the time. I want to thank my coaches, my colleague athletes back in Ghana and here in States. My fans those that I know and those that I don’t know I want to say shout out to them, they should keep praying for me and believing in me, I believe in myself and I will make them proud.