Mr B.K. Mends, a prominent national athlete in the 1960s is dead.

The late Mends who died on August 7, 2001 at Saltpond after a protracted illness was the first Ghanaian to run hundred yards under 10 seconds (9.6 seconds) during the first Osagyefo inter-regional competition at the Accra Sports Stadium in 1961.

In 1962 he won a gold medal with his teammates in the 4x400 relay race in the 8th Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica in a record time of 39.6 seconds.

He was the former Western Regional chairman of the Match Commissioners Association and until his retirement from the Ghana Police Service as Superintendent, was a member of the Western Regional Football Association.

The late Mends who was survived by two wives and nine children would be buried on September 29 at Saltpond.