International Women's Day: Seven women with inspirational stories in Ghana sports

International Women’s Day is a special day set aside to celebrate women and also shed light on some of the major issues women face in the world.

It is also a window that is used to celebrate women across the globe highlighting their achievements and impact for people to embrace equality.

The are some Ghanaian sportswomen who have achieved so much and hold envious records in the country's history.

As part of the International Women's Day celebration, GhanaWeb takes a look at Seven women who are record-breakers in Ghana sports

Alice Annum

Alice Annum paved the way and inspired most Ghanaian females to get involved in athletics after she became the first Ghanaian woman to represent the country at the Olympics in 1960.

She started off as a long jumper before becoming a sprinter. At some point in her career, she participated in both events at the same time.

She recorded her best time at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, clocking a time of 22.89 seconds in 200 meters.

In her illustrious career, she won three gold medals at the All Africans Games, two silver medals, and one bronze at the Commonwealth Games. Adjoa Bayor

Former Black Queens skipper, Adjoa Bayor is arguably the greatest Ghanaian female footballer ever.

She is the only Ghanaian female footballer to get nominated 4 times for the African best player of the year – 2004, 2006, and 2010 and went on to win it in 2004.


Theodosia Okoh

Theodosia Okoh is the first female chairman of the Ghana Hockey Association. She went on to become the President of the Ghana Hockey Federation for more than two decades, supervising historic qualifications to the World Cup and Olympic Games.


Vida Anim

Vida Anim is one of Ghana’s finest sprinters.

She was part of Ghana’s team at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

The 37- year old has 15 medals to her name including three gold medals from the 2006 African championship.

Magaret Simpson

Magaret Simpson is a heptathlete who has competed in numerous international competitions and won the same.

The 37-year-old won her first medal at the African Junior Championship in 1999 and went on to place 13th after she was selected for Heptathlon in the 2001 World Championship Athletics.

She placed third in her first senior global outing at the World Athletic Championship in 2005.

Mercy Tagoe-Quarcoe

Mercy Tagoe is the only sports personality that played football, became a referee, and is now a coach.

She has gone through all aspects of football; from playing for Black Queens at the World Cup in 1974 to getting a FIFA badge to officiate in games and becoming a coach.

As one of the pioneers in women’s football in Ghana, Mercy Tagoe-Quarcoo and her class of players made history in 1999 by becoming the first senior team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.

Under the stewardship of coach E.K Afranie, the Black Queens played in back-to-back FIFA World Cup tournaments (1999 & 2003) and Mercy Tagoe was instrumental in that team.

In her refereeing career, Mercy Tagoe also officiated at the 2013 FIFA World Cup and won the silver medal in the Turkish Women’s Cup Tournament in 2020 as a coach.

She has been an accomplished sportswoman in Ghana and a role model many young girls look up to in the field.

Madam Habiba Atta Forson

The Ghana Football Association's Executive Council Member is one of the pioneers of women's football and certainly needs to be celebrated for dedicating her life to the growth of the game.

Before her rise in football administration, Habiba Atta Forson was part of Ghana's track and field athlete team and won silver in the high jump contest in the 1965 All-Africa Games held in Congo Brazzaville.

She also led the track and field team to win the silver medal in the 4×100 meters relay.

From her exploits in athletics, she went into administration after working as a staff at Kumasi Secondary Technical College (KISCO). She was also renowned for her scouting prowlers and man-to-man coaching after turning Asante Kotoko legend Frimpong Manso from a striker into a defender who later became an asset for the Black Stars.

And in 1985, she founded Fabulous Ladies FC, one of the most successful clubs in Ghana football.

She is also a former management member of the record holders of the Ghana Premier League, Asante Kotoko, and has served on various committees for all the women's national teams.

Alberta Sackey

Honored by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as the Continent's Best Female Footballer of the Year, Alberta Sackey played at the top level of the women's game during her hey-days.
Just like Adwoa Bayor, Alberta was one of the few Ghanaian female footballers who won the CAF Player of the Year Award.

She was the 2002 African Women's Footballer of the Year. Alberta Sackey played in both the 1999 and 2003 FIFA World Cup.

Her goal against Australia in the 2003 Mundial was nominated by FIFA as the greatest goal in Women's World Cup history.


EE/KPE