Ghana’s Olympic dream dealt blow, Ben Azamati and Joe Paul drop out of major events

• Azamati and Paul have pulled out of the 200-metre and 100-metre races
• Their head coach says this is to keep them from burn out
• Tokyo 2020 starts on Friday, 23 July, 2021

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The head coach of Ghana’s athletic team, Andre Owusu, has said sprinters Benjamin Azamati and Joseph Paul Amoah will not compete in the 200-metre and 100-metre races respectively.

Sprint star Benjamin Azamati has withdrawn from the 200-metre race to concentrate on the 100-metre dash.

His fellow sprint teammate Joe Paul also confirmed his withdrawal from the 200-metre race to concentrate on the 100-metre dash.

Owusu said at a press conference that the team considered a number of factors before coming to this resolution.

“The decision we took for Azamati and Joe Paul to run one individual race each was influenced by the scheduling at the Tokyo Olympics. If they are to compete in the two events and qualify for the finals, they would have run about 8 races in the space of 6 days and that certainly would have meant that they will be completely burnt out."

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He added that this was to keep both athletes fresh and avoid any burn out.

“So, in other to preserve them and keep them fresh for the relays, we decided the best thing to do is to have them run in one race each”

The withdrawal means both athletes will compete in their special fields where they expect to reach the finals and hopefully win Ghana a medal.

The 2020 Summer Olympics (Tokyo 2020) will be held from 23 July to 8 August 2021.

In other sports news, former Dutch midfielder, George Boateng, has offered advice to English-born Ghanaian winger, Callum Hudson-Odoi over his international football future.

The 20-year-old winger, who recently won the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea, was snubbed by England manager, Gareth Southgate for the EURO 2020 tournament.

In an interview with Citi TV, Boateng, who works as Aston Villa U-23 coach stated that Callum Hudson-Odoi will have a better career with Ghana than the three Lions of England.

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