Ghana’s Abeiku Jackson, who secured both bronze and silver medals in the 50m & 100m butterfly finals in the swimming event of the African Games, has expressed his frustration regarding the negative comments from fellow Ghanaians before the event commenced.
The competition which took place at the Borteyman Aquatic Center, where Jackson’s impressive time of 53.80 in the finals of the 100m butterfly final event contributed to Ghana’s total medal count of five.
Abeiku Jackson at the #AfricanGames2023:
🥈 50m butterfly
🥉 100m butterflyTwo medals for Team Ghana in swimming 🏊 pic.twitter.com/RYwr8GJpoC
— 13th African Games, Accra 2023 (@Accra2023AG) March 12, 2024
In an exclusive interview with Citi Sports, Jackson, also serving as Ghana’s skipper, emphasized that the pessimistic remarks circulating before the games are detrimental to the morale of athletes striving to represent their nation.
#Acrra2023: ‘We want to win more than anyone!’ – Abeiku Jackson addresses ‘negative comments’
Click here for the full interview: https://t.co/ijplJLggPi#CitiSports pic.twitter.com/qvxFeCq3Tm
— Citi Sports (@CitiSportsGHA) March 12, 2024
He stressed the importance of fostering a positive environment for all participants in such events.
Egypt’s Nasr Abdalla secured gold with a time of 53.29s, while Eaton Jarden from Egypt clinched silver at 53.45s, surpassing the Ghanaian competitor.
Ghana’s Abeiku Jackson bags a bronze medal with a great swim in the Men’s 100m Butterfly final.
Jackson has now picked up two medals in the pool for Ghana after his silver medal-winning performance in the Men’s 50m Butterfly event.#CitiSports #Accra2023 #AfricanGames2023 pic.twitter.com/iGY0sh5DDE
— CITI FM 97.3 (@Citi973) March 12, 2024
The race, initially scheduled for Monday evening, had to be rescheduled to Tuesday morning due to a false start.
Abeiku, making history as the first Ghanaian swimmer to claim a medal at the African Games, broke a prolonged drought for the nation in the sport on Sunday.
