Ghana’s Abdul Rasheed Saminu made an impressive start to his Commonwealth Games campaign by winning Heat 2 of the men’s 100m in a season-best time of 10.01 seconds, qualifying for the semis.
The Ghanaian sprinter produced a commanding performance to finish well ahead of the rest of the field.
Orphee Topize of Mauritania placed second in 10.38 seconds, while Mc Kish Compton of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines finished third.
Saminu arrived at the Games in outstanding form. The 2025 World Athletics Championships semi-finalist boasts a personal best of 9.84 seconds, making him Ghana’s fastest man over 100 metres this season, and he carried that momentum into his Commonwealth Games debut.
Competing from Lane 3, Saminu recorded a reaction time of 0.150 seconds before powering away from the field with an explosive finish, underlining his speed, composure and determination as he comfortably secured first place and advanced to the next stage.
Ghana’s Benjamin Azamati also produced an impressive performance, winning his men’s 100m heat 5 in a season-best time of 10.00 seconds to book his place in the semi-finals.
Azamati’s winning time was 0.00 seconds faster than compatriot Abdul Rasheed Saminu’s 10.01-second run, making him the quickest Ghanaian across the heats.
Running with a reaction time of 0.155 seconds, Azamati comfortably finished ahead of Jersey’s Jamie Oldham, who clocked a personal best of 10.41 seconds to also progress to the semi-finals.
The season-best performance underlines Azamati’s strong form as Ghana’s sprint hopes continue to gather momentum at the Commonwealth Games.
For Isaac Botsio, it was a disappointing outing as the Ghanaian sprinter missed out on qualification to the semi-finals of the men’s 100m event at the Commonwealth Games.
Botsio finished fourth in his heat with a time of 10.40 seconds, recording a reaction time of 0.171 seconds, which was not enough to secure one of the qualifying spots for the next round.
Despite missing out on the semi-finals, Botsio’s performance adds to Ghana’s representation in the men’s 100m event, with compatriots Benjamin Azamati and Abdul Rasheed Saminu progressing to the next stage after winning their respective heats.
