Meet Benedicta Kwartemaa: The OKESS sprinting princess

Benedicta Kwartemaa, the new sensational sprinter who is taking the youth sprint in Ghana to the next level is a student of Osei Kyeretwie Senior High School (OKESS) in Kumasi.

The school is a notable of producing great athletes for Ghana for the past 84years since it was established. Benedicta who had her primary education at the Maase R/C School after a successful completion she continues to the Maase D/A Junior High School.

She was born at Maase in the Ashanti Region on 27th November 2004. Benedicta Kwartemaa was discovered by one of the renowned coaches in Ghana, Mr Bernard Addo Mensah popular known as Coach Benito. He said ‘I discovered her at Atimatim, Ashanti Region during one of their Basic Inter-School Games when she was in Maase D/A Junior High School (JHS 1).

After completing Maase D/A Junior High School, she got admission to Osei Kyeretwie Senior High School to offer General Arts (1A5). Benedicta is in her final year and she will be completing this year.

In the year 2019, she was 2nd in the 100 meters during the Ashanti Regional Superzonals Games, and qualified for the Inter Colleges Regional Games and she took the 3rd position in the 100 meters final. In the same year Benedicta participated in the Ghana Athletics Association Junior Championship which was organized at Tamale, Northern Region. She was 2nd in both 100 meters and 200 meters finals respectively.

Benedicta competed in the first preliminary round of the GNPC Ghana Fastest Human under 18 female category which was held at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium. Below are her times from the heat to the final.

She was first in the heat and also won the overall finals in the Under 18 female category.

Benedicta competed in the Open Championship which was held at the Paa Joe Sports Stadium, Kumasi, Ashanti Region. The event was uncategorized so all females, that’s both the juniors and seniors had the same heat and finals. The event was organized by the Ghana Athletics Association (GAA). Below are her times from the heat to the final.

She placed 3rd overall in the female category. She competed with Kate Agyeman, who is currently ranked the best female athlete in Ghana.

Benedicta competed at the just-ended second preliminary round of the GNPC Ghana Fastest Human which was held at the University of Ghana Sports Stadium, Accra. She competed in the under 18 female categories in a time of 12:262 seconds, taking the first position.

She got the qualifying time for the All African under 18 and under 20 Championship in Cote d’Ivoire, Abidjan. She progressed to the semifinal in the 200m, unfortunately, she couldn’t make it to the finals.

Benedicta said that her ambition is to represent Ghana in the Youth Olympic Games and win medals for her motherland.

Coach Benito disclosed ‘as part of our program in school there’s a time table for our daily routines. Training is usually after classes and after siesta for 1hour 30minutes then evening prep. It’s quite difficult but with discipline, she is coping. As her coach, I see she’s very hard working and always ready to learn.

Benedicta’s time has been improving each time as you can see from the analysis above.

Benedicta is an Olympic medal potential athlete if we can groom her very well. Benedicta Kwartemaa The OKESS Sensational Best Under 18 Female.