Ghana’s Janet Amponsah won her second medal of the African Senior Athletics Championships in Asaba, Nigeria after taking the bronze medal in the women’s 200m final on the last day of competition.
She crossed the finish line in a slow 23.38sec.
Amponsah, who won the women’s 100m silver medal on Thursday, was highly tipped to finish second behind Ivorian Marie Josee Ta Lou, who also beat her in the 100m.
But on hot weather conditions, Amponsah, who started in lane 3, was let down by her start, and spent the last 100m of the race trying to catch Cameroon’s Bevina Abessolo who was striding on the outside lane 7, just behind Ta Lou, who had already established an unassailable lead.
But it was too little too late, as the Cameroonian finished in the silver medal position, edging Amponsah by 0.02sec.
“I wanted the silver medal at least, but bronze is still better than nothing. I’m very proud of this achievement and I hope this is the beginning of more medals to come,” Amponsah told Citi Sports.
Compatriot, Hor Halutie, who narrowly missed out on a medal in the 100m, finished 5th with 23.49sec.
The two medals are the first in an individual track event at the African Championships for Ghana since 2010, when Aziz Zakari won silver in the men’s 100m.
They also represent the first medals for the 25 year old former Kumasi Girls High School and Middle Tennessee University Alumnus.
Team Ghana will now return home with two medals (1 silver, 1 bronze) after presenting four athletes in the competition.
Ghana placed 13th on the overall medal ranking with South Africa topping the charts with 30 medals overall while Kenya and Nigeria tied on 19 overall each. The Kenyans though, took home the most gold medals, 11.
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Fentuo Tahiru/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
