Millennium Marathon Volunteers Tour Race Route

Volunteers of the Accra Millennium Marathon 2016 were on Thursday, taken through the 21Km race route ahead of Saturday’s event.

The aim of the tour was to familiarize the volunteers, most of whom will serve as water and ribbon distributors and officiating assistants to the race roads.

The tour begun as early as 6:00am in the morning at the independence square in Accra, and the team of volunteers made intermittent stoppages at various water and ribbon distribution points.

The 21Km tour ended after close to an hour at the independence square before a similar exercise was embarked upon for the 5km fun run route.

After the two tours, the volunteers were taking through lessons on what is required of them before, during and after Saturday’s Marathon while officials also answered questions posed by the volunteers.

The route tour is the last of a series of activities by the Millennium Marathon Volunteers, most of whom are members of the Dansoman branch of the Junior Chamber International (JCI).

Millennium Marathon Volunteers Tour Race Route

Athletics: Olympic Champion Jebet Breaks Steeplechase World Record

Olympic champion Ruth Jebet smashed the world record for the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase by more than six seconds at the Paris Diamond League meeting on Saturday.

The 19-year-old, who was born in Kenya and runs for Bahrain, clocked eight minutes and 52.78 seconds, more than nine seconds ahead of Olympic silver medallist Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi of Kenya who finished second.

The previous record of 8:58.81 was set by Russian Gulnara Galkina at the Beijing Olympics eight years ago.

Jebet narrowly missed out on the world record when she won Bahrain’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro this month.

It was clear that the world record was in danger after Jebet completed the first kilometre in 2:56.36.

She went through the second kilometre in 5:54.16 compared to Galkina’s split time of 6:01.20 in her record-breaking run in Beijing.

“I tried many times to beat the world record and today we decided to push each other to go for a good time,” said Jebet.

“I was not expecting such a big difference with the record. I think I finished my season today.”

Times of Oman

Athletics: Olympic Champion Jebet Breaks Steeplechase World Record

CAA Championship: Sampson Laari Through To 800m Final

Ghanaian middle distance runner, Sampson Laari has advanced to the final of the men’s 800m after finishing in second place in 1:48.46m in Heat 2 on day two of the 20th African Seniors Championships at the Kings Park Athletics Stadium in Durban-South Africa on Thursday. 

Laari, who is competing in his first African Championships, secured an automatic spot in the final after coming second behind Mozambique’s Albertino Mamba who won the heat in 1:48.36m while South Africa’s Jacob Rozani took third place in 1:48.48m.

In the final race, the former Ghanaian youth athlete will be coming up against the likes of Botswana’s Nijel Amos who won the other 800m semi final in a very tactical race in a time of 1:49.91m.

Meanwhile, Ghana’s 4x100m men’s relay team are also through to the final  after finishing second in Heat 4 in a time of 40.73s on Thursday.

The team qualified for the final as one of the fastest losers on the day and the quartet will be coming up against Cote D’Ivoire, South Africa, Senegal, Zambia, Botswana in the final.

CAA Championship: Sampson Laari Through To 800m Final

CAA Championship: Atsu Nyamadi Wins Decathlon Silver

Atsu Nyamadi won Ghana’s first medal at the 20th African Seniors Championships at the Kings Park Athletics Stadium in Durban-South Africa on Thursday after taking silver in the men’s decathlon on the second day of the event.

Ranked third with 3895 points after the first day of the combined event, Atsu put up a strong performance on the final day, winning the javelin throw and discus throw events with 63.48m and 43.26m respectively.

He has thus won his third international medal for Ghana in three years after previously winning bronze and silver at the 2014 African Seniors Championships and 2015 All African Games respectively.

He debuted in the decathlon at the 2012 CAA Championships in Benin and has gone on to become a major force to reckon with on the African continent. He currently holds the national decathlon record of 7800pts.

Elsewhere, sprinter Gemma Acheampong put up a spirited performance in the women’s 100m final, placing 6th in a time of 11.49s, just 0.01s short of her personal best 11.48s.

Ivorian Murielle Ahoure lived up to her pre-race ‘favourite tag’ to win the 100m as she crossed the finish line in 10.99s, followed in second place by South Africa’s Carina Horn in 11.07 while another Ivorian sprinter Marie Josee Ta Lou settled for third place in 11.15s.

CAA Championship: Atsu Nyamadi Wins Decathlon Silver

Samuel Tettra Wins Brong Ahafo Regional Millenium Marathon

Twenty two year old graduate from the Nsoatre Senior High School has emerged winner in the annual regional Millenium Marathon in the Brong Ahafo region.

The energetic past student of Nsoatre SHS, stormed his way to lift the prestigious individual accolade with a commanding time of 34.34.47 seconds.

The enterprising long distance runner shook off stern competition from Issah Fuseini to cross the finishing line in a keenly contested 10.5 kilometre race.

The top three athletes in the annual event all crossed the line under the 34 minutes barrier in photo finish end separated by just fractions of seconds.

Issah Fuseini kept his composure throughout the energy sapping long distance event but had to settle for second place behind Samuel Tettra.

The 23 year old graduate from Kintampo however held off late challenge from Emmanuel Stephen Fia who settled for third place at the end of the day.

Winner of 10.5 kilometre event, Samuel Tettra, received cash prize of GHC400.00 and assorted items from the event while second and third place athletes took home GHC250.00 and GHC200.00 respectively.

The national annual Millenium marathon is scheduled for September 3, 2016 in the nation’s capital.

Samuel Tettra Wins Brong Ahafo Regional Millenium Marathon

Adams Break Upper West Regional Marathon Record

This year’s Pre-Millennium Marathon regional mini marathons got underway last weekend in the Northern and Upper West regions with Iddrisu Adams of the Ghana Revenue Authority in the Upper West Region breaking the regional mini-marathon record he set last year.

He completed the 10.5km race in an impressive time of 29.30 minutes. The previous record was 30 minutes flat.

Baloun Zuleiha of Tuma Sakai Primary School also made history as the youngest female ever to win a regional marathon. The 12-year-old completed the race in a time of 35.03 seconds.

In Tamale, Yakubu Alhassan and Ibrahim Rabiatu, a student, won the first positions in the male and female races respectively. Yakubu finished in 35.57 minutes while Rabiatu finished in 48.20 minutes.

Winners in both the male and female categories took home cash prizes, Awango solar products from Total and water from Melcom.

They will both receive a placement in the professional athletes programme being instituted by the Millennium Marathon Sports Ltd to groom and train marathon runners.

Adams Break Upper West Regional Marathon Record

UK Athlete Switches Allegiance To Ghana

UK born sprinter, Sean Safo-Antwi has changed nationality and will represent Ghana hence after being cleared to switch allegiance from Britain to compete for his new adopted nation with immediate effect.

The 25-year-old, who won the 60 metres at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix last month before finishing third at the British Championships, has been granted a transfer of allegiance.

Safo-Antwi asked the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in January for permission to change allegiance and the transfer was unopposed by Great Britain.

Sean can compete in either 60m, 100m or 4X100m track and in other field events.

UK Athlete Switches Allegiance To Ghana

Tartan tracks wont affect performance - Marc Dzradosi

The poor state of the tartan tracks at the El-Wak Stadium will prove a major hurdle for athletes when the first Ghana Athletics Association (GAA) Championship takes place on Saturday.

The championship open to all local Ghanaian athletes aims to offer them the opportunity to meet the qualification standards for entry into international athletic competitions such as the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, African Senior Championships and the World Junior Championships.

However, the deplorable state of the only standard athletic track in the capital means athletes looking to excel might sustain injuries in the process of evading divots on the tartan tracks.

“Any person with athletic ability can register and compete in any discipline they are interested in provided we have the equipment,” Dr Marc Dzradosi, the Treasurer of the GAA told the Graphic Sports yesterday in an interview.

“Our only constraint is pole vault, where we may not get the pole required for the jump.

“The event is open to anyone and it is meant to nurture and develop local talent. It is also open for free to all spectators and participants”.

Addressing the state of the track, Dr Dzradosi said despite the poor state of the track athletes could still record impressive times with the only threat being the risk of injury.

“They can make the time because it is not the whole track that is in a poor state but there is also the risk of injury because they will be using spikes.

“El Wak belongs to the Ghana military so it is very difficult for a private individual to come in to rehabilitate the place. We will be grateful if we could get access to a better track in the capital”.

He also disclosed that the first Circuit Championship will take place on February 27 in Bolgatanga.

Tartan tracks wont affect performance - Marc Dzradosi