2023 African Games: Ghanaian athletes displeased with preparations and lack of equipment

When the 2023 African Games was set to commence, Ghanaians were hopeful of winning lots of medals as hosts of the multi-sport tournament.

On Sunday afternoon, weightlifter Winnifred Ntumi brought joy by clinching one gold and two silver medals, besting her haul in the 2019 African Games where she won three bronze medals.

However, it has not been rosy for Team Ghana in other disciplines. In cycling on Sunday, Ghana’s national champion Michael Naaba, had to withdraw from his race due to a faulty bicycle. The race started two hours late because of the unavailability of an ambulance.

“I started preparations from last year when I knew that Ghana would host the games. I have been training day and night to prepare. When the race started, my bicycle failed me. My bike tube failed when the sound was blasted. I don’t have a good tube. I use the same one from training to compete,” Naaba revealed to 3Sports and Onua Sports after withdrawing from the cycling event.

“The bike I am using was given to me by the federation when I won the national championship years ago. The bike is an old one. If the government doesn’t give us new bicycles, we cannot compete,” he added.

“The bicycles we are using currently are ones we used our own money to buy. If you look at our outfits, you’ll realise that they are very old. We were told that new equipment was ordered for us but they haven’t arrived so we are using the old ones,” Abigail Tetteh, another cyclist for team Ghana revealed.

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The situation has been similar for other sporting disciplines. 3Sports understands that Ghana’s table tennis team is unhappy with how they have been handled before and during the games.

The men’s and women’s teams failed to win a medal in table tennis despite competing in the singles, teams, mixed doubles, and doubles and this in part, 3Sports understands has been due to lack of equipment and preparation.

“We had to borrow rackets from people we know to compete. You know we have to get accustomed to these rackets for sometime before we compete, that did not happen,” a source close to the team revealed to 3Sports.

Leslie Addo, a badminton player for Ghana, had dreams of winning a medal for his country. He found it hard for the flag but was ultimately knocked out during the elimination round on Saturday.

“The equipment we used to play did not come early. We only received our rackets on Friday morning. Even with the shoes, I received a size 37 whilst I wear a size 47 shoes. It is not fair to us,” Addo revealed, almost at the point of tears to 3Sports and Onua Sports.

“We sat in the bucket of our coach’s pickup on our way to Borteyman to compete. It is very risky. If we get the needed investment, we will go far,” he added.

With about two weeks to the end of the games, athletes hope that the situation changes for them.