Amoah joins Forester Osei for Tokyo Olympic qualifiers

After hours of deliberations, the skipper of Ghana's weightlifting team, Christian Amoah, is joining compatriot Christopher Forester Osei, for the final Tokyo Olympics qualifiers currently ongoing in Kenya.

Communications Director of the Ghana Weightlifting Federation (GWF), John Vigah, said Amoah left Accra last night in the company of national team coach Johnson Abotsi.

Initially, Osei was the nation's sole representative at the Kenya qualifiers, having been offered the country's solitary slot by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) to compete in the 89kg weight category in view of his current rankings.

According to the IWF, Osei has garnered 2,397.7108 points and is rated 13th in his category.

"However, after further deliberations between the chieftains of the GWF and the IWF, it was agreed that Amoah could join his colleague to fight for a slot at the Japan Olympics," Vigah disclosed.

Amoah, who represented the nation at the 2016 Rio Olympics, is said to be two points short of qualifying for the Tokyo quadrennial games.

At the Kenya qualifiers, Amoah and Osei will be competing in the 89kg and 96kg categories respectively.

In February 2019, Amoah grabbed two bronze medals at the 6th Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation Annual Weightlifting Championship in Uzbekistan. Amoah's feat brought to five medals the two lifters won at the cosmopolitan, multi-ethnic city of Tashkent.

Earlier in the same event, Osei put up an outstanding performance to clinch three silver medals in the championship which also served as a Japan 2020 Olympics qualifier.

Four lifters made up of Amoah, Osei, Winifred Ntumi and Sandra Mensimah Owusu were billed for the Kenya qualifiers until the latest twist.