Home-based Sprinter & Co Back Dodoo

Athletics: Fastest Home-based 200m Sprinter in 30 years & Co Back Dodoo

Some top home-based athletes have given thumbs up to the current executive board of Ghana Athletics Association (GAA) ahead of the upcoming congress.

As many as 11 still-locally based athletes made the national team for the recent Commonwealth Games and African Athletics Championships in Morocco after a very busy and demanding season in Ghana.

In addition to the 11 home-based athletes, there were another seven who only recently left Ghana on the scholarships the GAA sourced for them in January 2014.

This means that, of the 25 athletes who competed for Ghana this year, 18 were born, bred and trained in Ghana, contrary to the claims that GAA has focused on foreign-based athletes.

For the first time in over 15 years, eight local competitions were organised by the GAA across the country this year.

Many athletes achieved personal bests in their respective events following the introduction of the 4-stage Sea and Shore Circuit Championships and the National Open Championships (4).

100m/200m specialists Solomon Afful, who run a personal best of 20.85 secs [best for local athlete in 30 years] in the 200m, at the 2014 African Athletics Championships has chipped in. Afful says:

"I have seen great developments, great improvements in Ghana athletics or even precisely me because there have been these major competitions that I have been able to attend because of the camp our executives set up for us," he said.

"These camps help us a lot in preparation towards these major competitions. For the recent Commonwealth Games, we were in camp for about six or seven months.

"It really helped us to our personal best time always. I think it was because of the camp and the good coaches we had. Anytime we run, we did our personal best.

"That has brought some major changes in my running. I think it is a great development for Ghana athletics.

"When I came in this last three years, things have been going very well better than what I heard in time past.

A leading home based athlete 400m runner Shawkia Iddrisu, also has insisted that Ghana athletics is not dead despite claims by critics of the current GAA. "They are very wrong when they say that (athletics is dead). For the past four years, when Prof. took over athletics in Ghana has improved.

"The reason why I say that is: in 2007 there was a batch of athletes including me who went to Burkina Faso to represent Ghana at the African Juniors and we did very well. I myself I had two medals, and I'm asking myself where are the other girls now? You see they are nowhere to be found.

"They are nowhere to be found. But we could not maintain that crop of athletes for Ghana. But you know that that time there was no funding or nobody like Prof. Dodoo going around and begging for sponsorship for the athletes.

"It wasn't there. Now thank God, Prof. has done a very good job. He struggles to get a scholarship for you so you can do your academics and athletics. So when they say athletics is dead, I don't agree with them.

Shawkia was particularly pleased with the introduction of the Sea and Shore Circuit Championships which took place in Wa, Sekondi, Koforidua and Kumasi, which enabled athletes to win cash prizes- a total of Gh66,000 was distributed to deserving winners overall.

"One thing I can say is that Prof. has really done a very good job about is the introduction of competitions, plus the addition of money.

"Wow! When you get some points, they will give you some money. The man has done so well. "One thing I will praise the man for is how he got us kits when we went to the Commonwealth Games and African Championships. How he managed to get us kits for us to represent the nation. Are you aware Puma is no longer sponsoring us? Puma left before Prof. Dodoo came."

"Prof and his team have done a very good job in terms of camping and our allowances. He has done a very good job," she summed up.

Meanwhile, 2010 Commonwealth Games 4x100m relay silver medalist, Rosina Amenebede, has reacted angrily to suggestions by a former local athlete Kweku Nimako that all local athletes are against the Prof. Dodoo administration, in an interview on Citi Fm.

"I really don't think all athletes are against Prof. He might have one or two but not everybody is against Prof.

"If they want to be fair, we should go back to what Ghana athletics was 15 years ago. By then I was an upcoming athlete. There was nothing like grooming young athletes."

"It was always about some three or four top athletes. There was no succession plan. Prof. has changed that and is securing scholarships for Ghanaian athletes. Look at the recent Games Ghana participated in and how many medals Ghana won.

"Anybody who is saying Prof is not doing well is not telling the truth. I have passed through three GAA chairmen. All of them did what they could but Prof is doing very well," she summed up.