Postponement of Olympic Games heartbreaking - Botsyo Nkegbe

Ghana’s para-athlete, Raphael Botsyo Nkegbe has described the decision to postpone this year’s Tokyo Olympics to next year as heartbreaking.

Botsyo Nkegbe was the first Ghanaian to secure a spot for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic games after an impressive performance led him to win the T54 World Wheelchair 100m race with a new personal best of 14.22s at the Desert Challenge Games in Arizona, USA.

Botsyo who served as General Captain of Team Ghana for the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia explained that the thought of athletes starting preparations again is what disappoints him due to the amount of investment which goes into it.

“The first time that I heard the news it was heartbreaking for me not because I was looking forward to going to the Olympics but because of those who were preparing, putting in all the efforts to qualify to Tokyo,” Botsyo Nkegbe said.

The para-athlete who broke and set a new African record at the T54 World Wheelchair 100m race encouraged his colleagues to see the postponement as an opportunity to psych themselves and prepare better.

He said, “There’s nothing we can do but just to be strong as athletes, be tough in your mind. All hope is not lost. It is just an opportunity to prepare again, just do whatever you know you are doing as an elite athlete and prepare for next year.”

“These are some of the things that happens in an athlete’s career, you can’t control it. I’m just taking a day or 2 off then I will start preparations again hoping to be ready anytime I’m called on,” Botsyo Nkegbe added.

The International Olympics Committee announced that the Games will come off in Tokyo in July 2021.