Athletics Championship: Amponsah fails to make semi-final cut

Ghana’s sole representative at this year’s World Athletics Championship, Janet Amponsah, could not make it out of the heats for the women’s 200m event.

Amponsah raced in Heat 1 of the sprint event at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia on Thursday morning.

Her time of 24.07 seconds was the last in Heat 1. United States of America’s Kimberlyn Duncan came first, clocking 22.84 seconds while France’s Johanna Danois with a time of 23.00 seconds and Finland’s Hanna-Maari Latvala with a time of 23.07 seconds came second and third respectively to secure automatic qualifications into the semi-finals, to be raced later on Thursday.

The event is a good exercise for Janet Amponsah, whose prospects in sprint is considered high.

She was a 200m finalist in last year’s World Junior Athletics Championship held in Barcelona, Spain.

She is expected in Ghana to continue preparations towards qualification for future competitions, especially the 2016 Olympics to be staged in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Africa's hopes in the 200m will be carried by Cote d'Ivoire's Murielle Ahoure - who has already won a Silver Medal in the women's 100m - and Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare, who has also won a Silver medal in the women's Long Jump at the Moscow championship.