African Games 2023: Ghana swim team misses medal opportunities; wrestlers eliminated

The swimming competition at the ongoing African Games in Accra concluded with Ghana narrowly missing out on medals, while all Ghanaian wrestlers were eliminated from the tournament.

At the Borteyman Sports Complex, Ghana's swimming efforts yielded two fourth-place finishes in the men’s 100m freestyle and the 4x100m mixed relay freestyle events. Stacey Harry of Ghana secured fourth place in the men's 100m butterfly final, falling short of a podium finish.

South Africa's Clayton Jimmie claimed gold in dominant fashion, followed by Namibia's Alexander Skinner and Egypt's Abdalla Nasr in second and third place respectively.

Despite the near misses, Ghana's swimming team coach, Pavel Kutashev, expressed satisfaction with his team's performance, stating, "It was a good day. It wasn’t perfect when you consider we had two 4th places, but a good day overall." He praised the athletes' effort and determination.

In wrestling, Team Ghana faced disappointment as all Ghanaian wrestlers were ousted on the first day of competition. Mugis Salifu suffered a swift defeat in the men’s greco 77kg category, lasting less than 2 minutes in the first round against Kenyan opponent Mathonya Mathayo.

Badminton also brought disappointment for Ghana, with the men’s doubles team of Leslie Addo and Ebenezer Korampong exiting in the quarterfinals after a defeat to South Africa's Jarred Elliott and Robert Summers. Ghana's mixed doubles and women’s doubles teams failed to progress beyond the Round 16 stage.

Additionally, Ghana was unable to advance in any singles events, with no Ghanaian athletes progressing beyond the Round 16.