Ghana’s sprint sensation, Benjamin Azamati, secured fifth place in the men’s 100m final at the 2023 African Games held on Tuesday, March 19, 2024.
Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme, who outpaced Azamati in the semi-final, clinched victory with an impressive time of 10.14s.
Securing the second spot was Nigeria’s Itsekiri Usheoritse, clocking in at 10.23s, while Namibia’s Gilbert Hainuca seized the bronze medal with a time of 10.29s.
Azamati, with a time of 10.45s, narrowly missed the podium, along with his compatriot Aggerh Barnabas, who finished with a time of 10.50s.
Following his semi-final setback where he hinted at a hip flexor issue, Azamati expressed his disappointment at his performance.
“Not the perfect race for me, I feel like I didn’t execute well but I will go sit with my coach and talk about it. I had a little bit of a tight hip flexor. I think I’ll go back and see the physio to work on that and see how we can do tomorrow,” he shared with the media after crossing the finish line in the final with a time of 10.41s.
In another event, Ghana’s Mary Boakey finished 7th in the Women’s 100m race, narrowly missing out on a medal opportunity.