Jamaican sprinter, Asafa Powell has expressed his disappointment over the lack of athletics facilities in Ghana.

Powell was surprised by the lack of training facilities for sprinters despite Ghana producing some great sprinters who competed on the international stage.

He, who visit Ghana for a 10-day holiday, emphatically stated his dismay, citing that he would have wanted to compete with Ghana's great Aziz Zakari in the country but there are no professional tracks to host them.

"To be honest, I’m very disappointed. You guys had excellent sprinters back in the days. I remember competing against Aziz Zakari. When I went to the field and heard that I was going to compete with I will go like this guy was coming to pressure me. He was one of those great sprinters so coming here and not seeing the real professional track is very disappointing.

"What if I came here and I wanted to come to work out or something? This is an area that Ghana needs to improve," he quizzed

The Jamaican sprinter competed with Zakari in the men's 100m event at the Athens Super Grand Prix in 2005 in Greece.

Powell broke Tim Montgomery of USA's time of 9.78 seconds, setting a new record time of 9.77 seconds.

Aziz Zakari represented Ghana at 2000, 2004, and 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

He won silver and bronze at the World athletics final.

He was also a bronze medalist at the All-African Games and a two-time gold medalist at the African Championship.


EE/KPE