Ghana Bows Out With Pride

Ghana's two representatives at this year's Paralympics being staged in Beijing, China, may not have made the kind of impact they had hoped for, but they still can hold their heads high with pride.

Without any official support, and though they were not expected to cause any upset as wild card participants, the two, Botsyo Nkegbe and Ajara Busonga Mohammed, managed to improve upon their records, recording new times in their respective events.

Days after Nkegbe made a new African record with a time of 26.48secs in the 100m (T54), an improvement of his 27.72sec made at last year's All Africa Games in Algiers, Mohammed yesterday recorded her season's best of 3:46.56secs in the her heat of the 1,500m (T54).

Mohammed who did not compete in the 200m event, had her final competition yesterday but failed to advance, managing to finish sixth in the heat won by Canada's Chantal Petitclerc with a season's best time of 3:29.87.

Hoping to do very well in the 200m, Mohammed did not start the race as she could not get the clearance from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

Her exit follows in the tracks of Nkegbe Botsyo who failed to make any headway in his two events the 100m and 200m (T54).

Despite their disappointment, the two athletes are happy with their performance, describing their participation as a well-deserved exposure.

“We almost lost the chance of getting this experience and exposure needed in our careers. We managed to be here through the efforts of well-wishers and though we did not get to the final destination, we are proud of what we were able to achieve,” Nkegbe said in an interview.

Nkegbe, who has acted as the spokesperson for the team, said at least their performance was an indication that given the needed support, they could do well as well as their competitors.

“We are all capable of winning, the difference is the kind of support we get. It's all about support and motivation,” he stressed.

Nkegbe, had become very outspoken for the Paralympic team since the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (MoESS) turned down the request to provide any support for the Paralympic team to Beijing because they did not qualify on merit but had been given wildcards to participate.

The two-man team who were accompanied by their coaches, were further frustrated when they arrived in Beijing and realised that they did not have official kit from either the National Sports Council (NSC) or the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) for the competition.

Story by Rosalind Amoh