Ghanaian sprinter, Abdul Rasheed Saminu has shed light on the disqualification of the Ghanaian 4x100m relay team from the baton race at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The team failed to advance to the semifinals after a baton exchange error led to their disqualification.
Finishing sixth in their heat, Ghana’s relay team was penalized for a changeover violation that occurred during the final leg of the race.
Saminu, who also competed in the 100m alongside Benjamin Azamati, acknowledged a mistake in the initial baton handoff.
“I think with the first call, I missed the hand, so I had to bring it back again to make the legal contact,” Saminu explained in an interview with JoySports.
“Next time we just make sure we correct the mistakes and come back again,” he added.
This disqualification is a disappointing repeat of Ghana’s experience at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where a similar baton exchange mistake also hindered their performance.
The team’s time of 38.62 seconds in Paris was their slowest in recent years, trailing behind their previous times of 38.07s, 38.08s, and 38.29s.
With no remaining athletes in the competition, Ghana’s track and field events at Paris 2024 have come to an unfortunate end.
Additionally, the team did not secure medals in swimming or high jump, resulting in a complete absence of medals for Ghana at these Games.
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