Hon. Joseph Yamin, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports last Friday launched the search for the Fastest Human in Ghana.
Hon. Mike Gizo, a former journalist and minister of state who is now a chief was chairman of the seven year programme to seek for the Fastest Human in Ghana who will win a handsome prize of 40,000 ghana cedis and have the opportunity to represent Ghana at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. He urged the media to support the Show to make it big. The TV Reality Show idea introduced by Reks Brobbby, a former national athlete and Olympian who run the 100meters and Captain Andy Sam, a former hockey captain of Ghana and athlete who did the triple jump.
Reks Brobby said there was the need for corporate Ghana to support the event and was very humbled and grateful that companies have seen eye to eye with him and have decided to be part of the show.
He hinted that in Jamaica, corporates support school sports and it is about time that the same right thing is done in Ghana to unearth hidden talents the track and field area of sports. He noted that even the Security Services who also contributed to the bringing up of athletes are now concentrating much on peace keeping operations, whilst the Senior High School system does not allow students to grow in school to reach the fifth form or sixth form when they are matured to compete at the Inter Schools and Colleges. He observed that Ghana had produced great sprinters in the past and now the chain which been broken must be mended so that Ghana’s name can be mentioned at international sports meets and even the Olympic Games.
He expressed that the event will be staged for seven years, from 2013 to 2020 and the male winner goes home with 40,000 ghana cedis, whilst the female winner gets 20,000 ghana cedis. He said the idea is Ghanaian, made by a Ghanaian for Ghana.
Captain Andy Sam who is remembered for the Aspire Project said the programme will begin in the districts and move to the big towns, so any Ghanaian who feels he or she can run faster and fastest are welcome. He stressed that the event is for corporates who deal with mass markets and called upon all institutions and organisations who fall within to support the programme.
“This programme is a TV Reality Show, an Athletics show, a Marketing Event and a Media Event, so everyone who is part will benefit in terms of exposure” he added.
Hon. Yamin told the gathering at the Media Launch his Ministry was happy for such creative initiatives and will support it to realize the full results. He promised that the government is planning to put up structures like sports infrastructure to help people identify their talents and skills. He congratulated the event organisers and the sponsors who are on board at the moment like Blazing Gear, Fidelity Bank, Techno Mobile, The World Bank, Samsung, Chic Optique, L’Oreal, Deyale Sports Center, Georgia Hotel, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG).
Mr. Kofi Tsikata, Senior Communications Officer at the World Bank office in Ghana, who sponsored the Media Launch, said “This is one of the most brilliant ideas. Many people do not appreciate the link between sports and development. Apart from sports being crucial for the health and unity of a nation, sports is also a huge business and major sports events like the Olympics and World Cup are known to contribute hugely to the host countries gross domestic product”.
One observation that was made at the event was that over the last decade, the world has seen the systematic rise of Jamaican athletes all the way to the top of the global sprint order, notably Usain Bolt, the current fastest man on earth, and compatriots Asafo Powell, Yohan Blake, Shirley-Ann Fraser- Pryce, Sherone Simpson and others who trained in Jamaica to become super stars of the world. They were developed with the support of companies like Nike, Puma, Telecom and other corporate bodies and same can be done in Ghana for others to take over from the likes of George Daniels, a Ghanaian who held the world 100meters record at a time in history, and fast sprinters like Mike Ahey, J.A. Addy, Alice Anum, Sandy Osei Agyman, Ohene Karikari, Hannah Afriyie, Ernest Obeng, Reks Brobby, the Myles-Mills brothers, Aziz Zakari, Vida Nsiah, Vida Anim and others who belong to the Ghanaian sprint gladiator, who in their own day run fast and fastest to make Ghana proud.
Unfortunately, over the last decade, the pipeline seemed to have dried up and it has been difficult for Ghana to find a sprint hero to anchor the national hope and pride.
For the originators and organisers of the Fastest Human in Ghana (GFH), it is possible to find the fastest man in Ghana to challenge the world, so after the fantastic launch, the search has begun and for Captain Andy Sam, the project is basically to revive athletics in Ghana.
