Fans Thrilled to Spectacular performances at GAA Interplast - Sea & Shore National Circuit Championships

Athletes from all over the country converged at the El-Wak Sports Stadium last Saturday to compete for top honors in the latest edition of the Ghana Athletics Association (GAA) National circuit Championships sponsored by Sea & Shore and Interplast.

The championship forms part of the Ghana Athletics Association’s programme for athletes ahead of the upcoming All Africa Games (AAG) in Brazzaville

Cloudy skies did not deter the athletes who thronged the stadium in their numbers and produced fantastic and entertaining performances.

Martha Bissah leading the charge in the womens 1500m

Olympic gold medalist, Martha Bissah was not left out of the action and stamped her authority on the womens 1,500m with a 4m 37secs win. Beatrice Konama came in 2nd (4m 44s) and Hawa Combat  3rd (4m 34s).

In the men’s 200m final, Shepherd Agbeko clocked 21.30secs to emerge the winner with Bright Tsitey placing 2nd in 21.75secs and Stephen Opoku 21.77secs in 3rd place.

Shepard Agbeko leading the pack in the men's 200m final

Prosper Goku maintained his record as the local best in the 3,000m division, triumphing again after his earlier heroics at similar competitions in Sunyani and at Akatsi.

Safia Bright failed to maintain her winning streak in the women’s 100m final at Akatsi, losing this time to Dorcas Gyimah in a very close race.

Safia Bright and Dorcas Gyimah neck to neck at the finishing line

Sakat Lariba won the women’s 5,000 metres after clocking 17m 30s minutes to beat Millicent Boadi (17m 35s) and Elizabeth Azuure (17m 40s).

In other events, Robertson Tay won the men's discus and Mary Zuta emerged winner in the women division, while Diana Tetteh triumphed in the 100m hurdles.

The men's High jump saw Robert Kotei jump 1.95m to take pole position, with Kofi Boison placing a close 2nd place jumping the same height. Ezekiel Quarshie came in 3rd place with 1.92m jump.

Robert Kotei in action

In a post-event interview with the Graphic Sports, national athletics chief, Prof. Francis Dodoo, charged the athletes to use the competition to make a mark for themselves.


The Minister for Youth and Sports Dr Mustapha Ahmed and his Deputy, Vincent Oppong Asamoah were all present to grace the occasion and hailed the leadership of the GAA for putting together the event which he said, "will help unearth budding talents".

Source: Daily Graphic

HQ Athletics paves the way for the future with the 1st ever Private Schools U12 Junior Championships

The El-Wak Sports Stadium in Accra Ghana was home to the maiden edition of the HQ U12 Inter-schools Junior Athletics Championship on Saturday 20th June 2015 sponsored by Stambic Bank. It was a historic moment for Athletics in Ghana given that this was the first time a competition like this was held for Juniors in Private schools.

Hawthorne Quist (HQ) Athletics, the brains behind this event was established a year ago to introduce children the ages 12 years and under to the discipline of Track and Field Athletics. With the El-Wak Sports Stadium as their base of operation, kids from all walks of life meet every Saturday from 7am -10am to train, be inspired by Coaches and Athletes (both past and present) and to basically have fun!

Athletes from The Ghana International School (GIS), Roman Ridge School and Merton International School gunned for top honors in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 4x100m relay categorized into U8, U9, U10 and U12 age groups.

   

Cloudy skies did not deter the enthusiasm and excitement of the kids who were just itching and couldn't wait to show what they were made of on the tracks. The crowd was thus, entertained, to a series of spectacular performances from the young athletes from all schools, showing impressive feats of strength, agility, quickness and technique.

The honourable Minister for Youth and Sports Alhaji Dr. Mustapha Ahmed graced the occasion with his presence and was pleased and excited about the performances put up by the young athletes. Prof. Francis Doodoo, President of the Ghana Athletics Association (GAA) and Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) and Reks Brobbey, founder of the Ghana's fastest human brand who represented Ghana in the 1984 Olympics also came to show their support and stamped their approval all over this initiative.

A dominant display by Athletes from the Ghana International School saw them rake in a total of 237 points to be crowned 1st ever HQ U12 Junior Champions. Roman Ridge School came in 2nd with a total of 146 points and Merton International School placed 3rd with 138 points.
                 


The competition was a huge success with proud mummies and daddies bouncing up and down cheering their wards whiles the kids were all smiles having won some silverware and made new friends.