President of Ghana Athletics, Bawa Fuseini, has announced a series of junior competitions; including one in Nigeria and another in Accra, that will serve as qualification platforms for selecting athletes to the national team ahead of the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Japan.
He made the announcement at the Accra Open on Saturday, a competition that brought together athletes of all ages for events spanning hurdles, sprints, and field disciplines.
According to Fuseini, these upcoming competitions present a valuable opportunity for young athletes to showcase their talent and earn a place on the national team.
He outlined Ghana Athletics’ roadmap:
“Right from here, we’ll go to Nigeria for the Africa Junior Championships, and then come back to organize the West Africa Junior Championships in Accra. We were supposed to host the West Africa meet first, but due to time constraints and lack of funds, we had to adjust.”
According to him, the highlight of the calendar will be the National Championships in August, which he described as the final “funnel” where top-performing athletes will be selected to represent Ghana in Japan.
However, Fuseini noted that if local athletes fail to meet the qualification standards, the sports body will turn to its pool of foreign-based athletes, following the model used by global athletics powerhouses.
We’re praying and hoping we’ll get more athletes qualifying especially in the 100 meters, where we need three. If not, we’ll bring in the foreign-based athletes to compete in national trials here in Ghana because
that’s what countries like Nigeria, the USA, South Africa, and Australia do; they fly in their top athletes to compete at home before final selection. We want to do the same.”
