Ghana’s Benjamin Azamati has described his 9th place finish in the semifinals of the men’s 100m event as “possibly the worst race he’s had this season.”
The Ghanaian sprinter did not advance to the Men’s 100-metre finals at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, after placing ninth in Heat One of the semifinals.
Azamati ran a time of 10.17 seconds, slower than his previous heat time of 10.06 seconds which had secured his spot in the semifinals.
At the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, Azamati also failed to advance past the semifinals.
The first heat was won by Jamaica’s Oblique Seville, who set a personal best with a time of 9.81 seconds. Reigning World champion Noah Lyles came in second with a time of 9.83 seconds, while Great Britain’s Louie Hinchliffe finished third with a time of 9.97 seconds.
No place in the final for Ghana’s Benjamin Azamati after he finished 9th in the Men’s 100m semis with a time of 10.17s.#CitiSports #Olympics pic.twitter.com/wrSKrjYr7u
— Citi Sports (@CitiSportsGHA) August 4, 2024
Following the race, Azamati reflected on several aspects he believed he could have improved to achieve a better result.
Obviously it was not one of my best races this season, probably one of the worst, but hey I can’t complain looking back at what this season has been man.
To say that I’ll be here I think, you know, I’ve worked hard to get here being in the semi -final.
I think it was good for me getting in there but obviously I couldn’t put together a good race in the semi -final. Now it’s still a learning process, the only way we can move forward is not giving up, you know.
There’s still Olympics to go, there’s still World Championships next year, so my head is still high, you know. Just get back to training, get back to training hard and then you know come back and you know do it next time.
Yeah, it’s more about controlling emotions. I think I’ve done it best throughout the whole season here on the bigger stage. It’s more about controlling my emotions. I did it best in the semi -final, not worried about anybody.
I think that’s been the greatest lesson and you know running is more mental than being physical and I think I’ve been able to master that well now. It’s just left me putting in the work and then coming back and now that we have control of our emotions, I think it’s only going to progress from here.
Hard luck for both Benjamin Azamati and Abdul-Rasheed Saminu for missing out on the Men’s 100m final but what an effort, regardless, to make it to the semis! They will certainly be back!🇬🇭#CitiSports #Olympics pic.twitter.com/U55CYsrFkq
— Citi Sports (@CitiSportsGHA) August 4, 2024
