The name Ignisious Gaisah holds different meanings for many in Ghana’s sporting circles.
Now at 40 years old, Gaisah could be your brother, friend, or the Ghanaian long jump champion who later chose to represent the Netherlands. But for this writer, Anthony Ignisious Gaisah Essuman is the man who almost inspired me to become a long jumper.
That’s how significant he is to me. So, when I finally had the opportunity to sit down for an interview with him just before the start of the 13th African Games in Accra, you can only imagine the level of excitement I felt afterward.
Although every individual has the right to choose their future path, one can’t help but wonder why someone would leave their own country to represent another. But there were underlying factors; one of the key ones being feeling underappreciated by one’s own people.
Even Jesus Christ once spoke about prophets not being honored in their hometown. “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown” (Luke 4:24).
JUMPING HIGH FOR RED, GOLD, GREEN WITH THE BLACK STAR
When he turned 16, he embraced athletics, a sport his mother had dabbled in briefly during an era when sports and family life were considered incompatible.
It did not take the teenager a lot of time to catch attention. He was jumping a minimum of 7.30m in long and then he snatched the national title in 1999 with a big leap of 7.40m which earned him a spot in the national team for the African Juniors Championships.
At the African Juniors in Tunis, he leaped a distance of 7.42m to win a bronze medal in long jump.
Gaisah’s journey in the sport was marked by consistent growth, culminating in international acclaim in 2002 when he shattered the African junior record with an impressive 8.12 meters.
The following year, he stunned the world with his performance at the 2003 World Championships in Long Jump, coming tantalizingly close to a podium finish until the ‘big bosses’ intervened in the fourth round, altering the course of the competition.
After securing a fourth-place finish in Paris with a jump of 8.13 meters, Gaisah continued to raise the bar. He notched a national record leap of 8.26 meters, claiming third place at the World Athletics Final in September before adding another 4cm to his best for a massive win at the All-African Games, 38cm ahead of his closest challenger.
Gaisah finished sixth at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens with a leap of 8.24m and would return to the World Championships to win silver in Helsinki, Finland with 8.34m.
2006 is probably the greatest in the Ghanaian born Dutch’s career. He won gold in the World Indoor Championships in Moscow (8.30m), Commonwealth Games in Melbourne (8.20m) and African Championships held in Mauritius (8.51 with wind).
He would be off the podium for the next four years, making a big return to the Commonwealth Games in 2010 where he clinched bronze in Delhi, India with 8.12m. He went on to win silver in the 2011 All-African Games in Mozambique.
Gaisah then went on to win his last medal in Ghana’s colours by jumping 7.73m to win bronze in Porto Novo, Benin in the African Championships before switching nationalities.
THE BIG SWITCH
Gaisah achieved remarkable success during his 13-year tenure competing for the West African nation, securing gold medals at the All Africa Games in 2003.
He further solidified his legacy by clinching a hat-trick of gold medals in 2006, triumphing in the World Indoors, Commonwealth Games, and African Championships.
However, in 2013, Gaisah penned an emotional letter to the Ghana Athletics Association, expressing his decision to discontinue competing for Ghana. Shortly thereafter, he represented the Netherlands at the 2013 World Championships, where he earned a silver medal.
“I have been in the Netherlands since 2001 and that has been my second home. I have served Ghana since 1999 till the 2012 Olympic Games in London. But I realized that I was getting old and I have my family there so why still compete for Ghana so that was the main reason why I switched nationality,” he said when quizzed on the decision to quit representing the country of his birth.
“It was not a difficult to represent Netherlands because I have been living there since 2001 so I feel Dutch as well,” he added.
Another reason for his nationality switch from Ghana to the Netherlands, according to him, was the fact that there was limited or no support from the country of his birth to help grow in the sport.
“The fans were always supportive but the big guys out there gave no support. As athletes, we always finance ourselves and when we return, the country gives us nothing.” he said.
However, when he made the switch, he was well past his prime even though he won won a couple of medals for the Netherlands.
He jumped 8.29 metres to win silver at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow and then in front of the crowd of his second country, he clinched a bronze medal at the European Championships hosted in Amsterdam.
AKWABA, IGGY
“Man has to follow his or her dream but never forget where he comes from. I am here to impact my knowledge and so yeah, I am back and happy to back home. The call to coach Ghana was in January and I was happy and ready to come back to help the country of my birth,” Gaisah when quizzed on why decided to help Ghana during the 13th African Games.
The Dutch was one of the eight coaches tasked by Ghana athletics to guide the athletes to podium places at the 13th African Games that was held in the West African country from March 8 to March 23, 2024.
For Ignisious Gaisah, he was assigned to long jump and high jump, to an extent, and ultimately, he and his coaching team delivered the goods for Ghana. A return of three gold medals, two silvers and a bronze is definitely a step in the right direction for the country.
I observed from close-range as Cadman Evans Yamoah jumped his way to gold in the men’s high jump final. You could tell from the joy on Gaisah’s face what it meant to him to see his countryman win a gold medal in a sporting discipline that Ghana rarely scores highly.
“Hard work pays. I am so happy that this young man [Cadman Yamoah] is making all of us proud and these are the events athletes train for. I am grateful to be part of this history-making moment.” he said as we shared an embrace.
These are the achievements any man would dream of: winning gold for your country and guiding others to victory.
For Ignisious Gaisah, now an athletics trainer in his second home of the Netherlands, each moment is cherished, especially if his athletes secure a gold medal.
While his days as an athlete are behind him, his expertise remains current and invaluable and Ghana will be better off tapping into that treasure trove.