Rio2016 – an appraisal of the Ghanaian and African performances

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ben 9 years ago

Good report,Mr writer. Please save this report well.We will be expecting to read it again same time in 2020

Good report,Mr writer. Please save this report well.We will be expecting to read it again same time in 2020
bigbrosam 9 years ago

ONE MUST PAY TO BE SELECTED AND NOT THOSE WHO QUALIFY.THEREFORE THE WRONG PEOPLE GET SELECTED.

ONE MUST PAY TO BE SELECTED AND NOT THOSE WHO QUALIFY.THEREFORE THE WRONG PEOPLE GET SELECTED.
Speak truth 9 years ago

YES!! Exactly. The issue is not about how much is invested because at the very least Ghana is putting in enough dollars as Kenya or Nigeria so why did everyone come last? It's because the Federations are so bad,run and are l ...
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YES!! Exactly. The issue is not about how much is invested because at the very least Ghana is putting in enough dollars as Kenya or Nigeria so why did everyone come last? It's because the Federations are so bad,run and are laws onto themselves with no accountability. They have no selection criteria Nothing. Whoever pays or whatever lines the pockets of the Federation that's what they do. Half the time the federation presidents don't even have a clue about the sport they're representing. So what do you expect? It's the poor management of the federations at the grassroots level. Not the lack of talent or resources.
Agyeman. 9 years ago

The author of this article is wrong.Nigeria is NOT a continental sporting powerhouse- that title go to South Africa or to Kenya at least these two are not one hit wonder nations like Nigeria with only soccer.

The author of this article is wrong.Nigeria is NOT a continental sporting powerhouse- that title go to South Africa or to Kenya at least these two are not one hit wonder nations like Nigeria with only soccer.
Alligator 9 years ago

Nigeria may not be the best sporting nation in Africa but they're an African powerhouse. They do well in the All-African games. Saying they're a powerhouse doesn't mean they're the only powerhouse and the writer did mention K ...
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Nigeria may not be the best sporting nation in Africa but they're an African powerhouse. They do well in the All-African games. Saying they're a powerhouse doesn't mean they're the only powerhouse and the writer did mention Kenya and South Africa as countries with far better results in the Olympics than Nigeria.

I think the writer described Nigeria as an African powerhouse to contrast with the fact that the country doesn't do well in the Olympics!
Kweku Donsuro 9 years ago

Comprehensive report. African governments do not invest in sports but they want dividends. UK invested 375 million pounds in the Olympics and their medal haul shows it. In Ghana, only useless politicking pervades the atmosphe ...
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Comprehensive report. African governments do not invest in sports but they want dividends. UK invested 375 million pounds in the Olympics and their medal haul shows it. In Ghana, only useless politicking pervades the atmosphere with class C ministers and government operatives who cater to their stomachs!
Ketu 9 years ago

EVERYTHING in GHANA IS MEDIOCRE ,Exemplified by successive mediocre Ghana leadership.

Mediocrity in Ghana has assumed breathtaking proportion and accepted as the norm.

Even mediocre Black Star players were'rewarded' wit ...
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EVERYTHING in GHANA IS MEDIOCRE ,Exemplified by successive mediocre Ghana leadership.

Mediocrity in Ghana has assumed breathtaking proportion and accepted as the norm.

Even mediocre Black Star players were'rewarded' with US$100,000 each because of Nyantakyi's COEFFICIENT of LOOTING the State coffers.
Speak truth 9 years ago

Good report making it all very clear what goes on. It's important to have accurate reports not just silly pr and spin which is what was happening at the begining of the games. ie. 'Kaya came third in her heat' when there w ...
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Good report making it all very clear what goes on. It's important to have accurate reports not just silly pr and spin which is what was happening at the begining of the games. ie. 'Kaya came third in her heat' when there was only 3 people in the heat to begin with! We need accuracy if we are to tackle the problem which is absolutely possible to correct. Ghana has the talent, and a large diaspora community and enough resources at home to yield results for Ghana and Africa.
Speak truth 9 years ago

The issue of why Ghanaians abroad represent ghana because they're not good enough for the countries they live in, is not always truthful. For some young people facing racism and double standards in Europe etc, it's a matter o ...
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The issue of why Ghanaians abroad represent ghana because they're not good enough for the countries they live in, is not always truthful. For some young people facing racism and double standards in Europe etc, it's a matter of national pride and identity. The best way of handling this is to see if the times, results of the foreign based Ghanaian is good enough for the national European/western team. So for instance if a youngster has been picked or wins a national medal in France or US, and performs well on the national circuit then obviously they are very good indeed. National records in Ghana themselves don't really mean much because they are way behind international standards. So you have to judge a young prospect against the international standard. Also being based in Europe or western countries does give the athlete an advantage, they have access to better coaches and facilities and also they are able to travel easier and compete against a variety of international athletes which is important if you want to reach the top. So it is a massive advantage for Ghana to recruit and take advantage of these prospects. However because the federations are run so badly they don't really know who to look for or who to recruit and they don't do anything to keep the talent. So for instance, they should not be recruiting a 24 or 30 year old who lives in London but rather reach out to the parents of youngsters who are 8-14 range and good at a particular sport and encourage them. Because that 14 year old will have a better chance of success in one or two olympic cycles. Also they have to look at the peak age for each sport. Recruiting a 14 year old swimmer is too too late. They have to have someone who is 8 or 9 and develop them. If that is not possible then stay away and stop wasting money on something that will not yield results and instead focus on a different sport that can. It's not hard to get this right. You just have to be willing to listen!
Alligator 9 years ago

Good argument but how can Ghana develop 8-9 yr old diasporans?

At that age, they may not know which country they will eventually compete for. Moreover at that age, we cannot be sure if the talent will really blossom as an ...
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Good argument but how can Ghana develop 8-9 yr old diasporans?

At that age, they may not know which country they will eventually compete for. Moreover at that age, we cannot be sure if the talent will really blossom as an adult. And then what will be the logistics of the Ghanaian authorities developing the talent who is still living with the parents abroad? Should they be sending money to the parents to pay for for swimming, gymnastics, riding, etc lessons?

What our authorities can do is to identify local talent at an early age, start developing him/her and sponsor them to go abroad for better training with better coaches and better facilities. Even this may be almost impossible for the Ghanaian authorities to do. Someone will steal the funds or pay bribes for his untalented child to be picked.

Someone gets third place in a heat that had only three competitors... That was funny.

Thanks
Speak truth 9 years ago

Thanks Alligator. You are right it is a challenge. But let me give you an example. For instance there are diasporan families in the UK whose children attend schools that have access to really great sports facilities or compe ...
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Thanks Alligator. You are right it is a challenge. But let me give you an example. For instance there are diasporan families in the UK whose children attend schools that have access to really great sports facilities or competitions. Someone can be assigned to target these schools and be put in touch with the parents and the child through the school. For instance I have come across Ghanaian kids who are great at school level track and field or swimming. But no one ever reaches out to these kids or their parents to let them know that if the kid continues to participate and compete at a high level, they can choose to represent Ghana so they just don't know and don't pursue it as an option. Furthermore no UK sports federation even pays for an 8 or 9 year old development. In other words, funding only kicks in when you turn 13 usually. But if you have not done all the right things until you turn 13 it is usually too late for many sports. At the same time as this active recruitment from overseas, a local programme can be started. THE POINT IS THAT NO GOVERNMENT PAYS FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT. NOT THE UK NO ONE. THEY MAY SUBSIDISE CLUB MEMBERSHIP FOR YOUTH BUT THEY DON'T PAY A STIPEND TO THE FAMILY OR THE CHILD. The other issue is that Ghanaian parents generally don't respect athletes or sports (with the exception of football for their boys where they may be money in it later). Therefore there is a cultural imbalance. Most families of our 'white' counterparts are actively involved in taking their kids to competitions, training, encouraging them and respecting their efforts and generally sports. So what I'm saying is that we can make a difference through our diaspora community to change perceptions and recruit at an early age - a great advantage because it means that the same faicilities that the 'white' kid has, our Ghanaians have. The same competitions that the european kid goes to which betters his/her chances of performance, our Ghanaians have. And slowly you level the playing field. Unless you have a total socialist programme like in China, you cannot recruit youngsters and support them. It comes from the families.And in tandem, at the local Ghana level, we use these connections to further the pursuit of the sports for the Ghanaian kids. Another example, I personally have worked with the Chinese sports programme. I put forward an offer for five different disciplines from the President of the Federations in China to host and train Ghanaians. The Ghanaian Federations could not even be bothered to respond! I set up an exchange programme for a school in the UK. The presidents did not respond. There was no money in it for them. They don't actually want to get results. They just want to have a couple of names to put forward for funding and then they go on trips and get perdiems and they take some of the per diem allowance meant for the 'athlete' and the 'coach' as well. Or sometimes they get paid by the 'athlete' because the family of the 'athlete' pays them to take their son overseas so he can stay there beyond the competition and work for a bit. So the problem is the corruption of the Federation Presidents and the way they are run and they know 'that no one can touch them.' and they play on that.
Fox 9 years ago

Stop the nonsense. Why write all these garbage.

Stop the nonsense. Why write all these garbage.
EKY 9 years ago

It's not garbage. It's the truth. You just don't like to hear it but as the saying goes 'the truth shall set you free.' we can't fix the problem unless we bring it to the light and look at all the facts that create the enviro ...
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It's not garbage. It's the truth. You just don't like to hear it but as the saying goes 'the truth shall set you free.' we can't fix the problem unless we bring it to the light and look at all the facts that create the environment that leads to abject disappointment and failure in sports. there's no reason for it. Ghana has talent. The government makes more money available than some other nations and ghanaians have opportunities. so why these results? It's like sending your kid to school with shoes, uniforms, books, a good school a good teacher and he/she still comes back with F for Fail. you'd want to know why wouldn't you???
speak truth 9 years ago

First there has to be a review of the spectrum of sports and the opportunities and the amount of funding needed. SO for instance, boxing is something that does not need much infrastructure or expenditure. The biggest investme ...
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First there has to be a review of the spectrum of sports and the opportunities and the amount of funding needed. SO for instance, boxing is something that does not need much infrastructure or expenditure. The biggest investment is in getting a really good coach. You can get a good coach for about $60k/year plus housing and allowance. A 3 year contract would produce fantastic results if the coach is recruited from abroad, in time for the 2019 Games. Swimming is not going to work at the local level unless you start with someone who is 7 or 8 NOW. In other words the two swimmers that went to Rio, was a waste of money. They can be developed for African Championships but frankly they are unlikely to even make podium for african championships this year or next year. They've already missed milestones. Getting national records for swimming in Ghana is not a yardstick for excellence when the level of competition is so low or non existent. However we can find two or three Ghanaian kids aged 7-9 living abroad, and sort them out. That just takes a bit of proactive work. Track and field can be developed domestically but sending someone at the age of 20 to an American university and expecting them to make it is far fetched. We can do well in other sports, such as canoeing, or shooting/archery. Again where the expenditure is low. Furthermore there are opportunities for young ghanaians to be trained abroad not when they reach 20 but much much younger But that takes a lot of commitment from the child and from the parents. And for that there needs to be compensation. Finally I would say that NO WESTERN GOVERNMENT, pays parents of children for lessons or training or domestic competitions so of course the Ghanaian government cannot be expected to foot this bill. However when a child is good enough to go to a world championship having demonstrated they have achieved National standards (of the european countries they live in not national Ghanaian standards), then the government should support those youth. ie. if you live in France and get french titles but you represent Ghana, you should be supported to go to the world championships and african championships because that is how this youngster can be developed for Olympic standard. Because federation presidents like to control everything and waste money, they end up picking someone who has no hope at all and get funding for some 20 or 30 year old to go to a world championship when he's a novice. inevitably they come last. Having wasted 20 or 30000dollars. But the federation presidents don't care about that because what they want is to boast, go abroad, cream off some money and just waste everyone's time and tax payers' money.
speak truth 9 years ago

And when they come back they say 'oh we finished 6th' when in fact there were only 6 people in a heat! They just lie and spin the story and no one bothers to challenge them because if you challenge the president of a federat ...
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And when they come back they say 'oh we finished 6th' when in fact there were only 6 people in a heat! They just lie and spin the story and no one bothers to challenge them because if you challenge the president of a federation or the GOC, you get banned!!! So nothing changes because there are no robust checks and balances in place, no transparency, no accountability and a lot of abuse of power by the federations which are ruining sports in Ghana and all over Africa. Kenya has done well because at least the government stepped in and suspended the Kenyan Athletic president. We just leave them to it and inevitably the presidnets of the federations take advantage and use the system. But the government CAN insist on change despite the rules, because at the end of the day the Federations are getting money from the sports authority and the government. They have the power to refuse to fund the federation until they clean their act up.
Alligator 9 years ago

You seem to be knowledgeable about such things. Great.

I doubt if govt policy can do much in Ghana. There's just not enough money to throw at sports after officials have taken their cuts. The only thing that can save us i ...
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You seem to be knowledgeable about such things. Great.

I doubt if govt policy can do much in Ghana. There's just not enough money to throw at sports after officials have taken their cuts. The only thing that can save us is individual effort and it's only the middle class in Ghana that can throw money at their chn's sports. It's only football that Ghanaians see can make money. But most of the sportspersons who did well in Rio are profs.

I don't foresee the situation improving any soon.
Bobby 9 years ago

Your report is amazingly good.Well done.
But question is who decide the disciplines? You can understand why our traditional games are not there. So we (Ghana/Africa) start from the valley. Whatever the case more medals were ...
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Your report is amazingly good.Well done.
But question is who decide the disciplines? You can understand why our traditional games are not there. So we (Ghana/Africa) start from the valley. Whatever the case more medals were won by Africans!
Kwobia (Toronto) 9 years ago

Over all poor nutrition in most African countries is at the root of the problem.If children do not eat well,they do not grow to become great athletes.Ghanain children perform poorly academically because of lack of food,especi ...
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Over all poor nutrition in most African countries is at the root of the problem.If children do not eat well,they do not grow to become great athletes.Ghanain children perform poorly academically because of lack of food,especially in the northern regions.The US,Britain do well because the citizens eat well over all.
speak truth 9 years ago

Nutrition is important at elite level for sure. But there are plenty of well nourished Ghanaian kids in Ghana and in the diaspora. If a country plans through central planning, like China to select, support and reward, then yo ...
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Nutrition is important at elite level for sure. But there are plenty of well nourished Ghanaian kids in Ghana and in the diaspora. If a country plans through central planning, like China to select, support and reward, then you get results. Otherwise it's upto middle class parents to put a value on sports as happens in the UK or US. In other words, Ghana has to decide first and foremost if it is going to have a plan through central planning or just leave it upto individuals. An unfortunately, most AFrican parents show off their wealth by how fat their children are rather than how fit they are or their athletic prowess. My view is that Ghana, should do what the Chinese did. Have a review, do some central planning, get rid of the Federation presidents and set proper goals and enforce a programme.
Mensah Abrampa 9 years ago

While centuries long doubling down on scientific research in every field of human endeavor including sports by western and Asiatic nations have yielded high dividends the same period has left idiosyncratic and unimaginative A ...
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While centuries long doubling down on scientific research in every field of human endeavor including sports by western and Asiatic nations have yielded high dividends the same period has left idiosyncratic and unimaginative Africans sprawling and trailing far behind their worldwide competitors. Africans believe each of life's shortfalls is attributable to supernatural intervention and that jaded mindset has sucked most of an entire continent into the vortex of sloppiness and laziness.
Our culture doesn't seem to put the same value on intellect, muscular activity, planning, etc, as it does on witchcraft, voodoo. Practice makes perfect and perseverance seem to have been alienated from our cultural values. If we were to let go some conventions of life as we know it - the customs, traditions, witchcraft, juju, etc, we could train our imagination to build new ones based on different values of work and wealth. Wilful blindness can't be good because any action blindly taken is likely to cause unintentional damage.
Our restitution for the past is best made by our responsible behavior today. Contrary to expectation and instead of investing money and resources into unearthing and training talent and making inroads into the scientific culture, the current President, blinded by selfish and myopic ambition is using a disproportionate part of the nation's scarce financial resources on a vote buying spree and shenanigans.
If we're believing one way and acting another, it might be time to change either our behavior or our belief or both.
The end is justifying our means but if we're serious as a people then the end can never justify the means because the means is life as we live it, in the present moment.
A sign of maturity is the acceptance of the full responsibility for the failures. Another sign is the willingness to let go of the days outcome whatever they are and ready ourselves instead to face tomorrow, confident and hopeful.
"To live is not merely to breathe, it is to act; it is to make use of our organs, senses, faculties of all those parts of ourselves which give us the feeling of existence." (Jean - Jacques Rousseau)
MIGHTY MAN 9 years ago

It id a shame that the entire Ghanaian team had to leave Rio due to poor performance.

It id a shame that the entire Ghanaian team had to leave Rio due to poor performance.
Fox 9 years ago

When it comes to love making, trust Africans to be number one. Just sex, laziness and stealing. Africans are incompetent at everything, they're shallow minded and very backward. Even when they travel to Europe and America to ...
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When it comes to love making, trust Africans to be number one. Just sex, laziness and stealing. Africans are incompetent at everything, they're shallow minded and very backward. Even when they travel to Europe and America to live there, they never learn and their behaviour remains the same.
Shatta Wale 9 years ago

Both athletes are great sportsmen. But Carl Lewis may have the edge because he was a great runner and a greater long jumper.

Both athletes are great sportsmen. But Carl Lewis may have the edge because he was a great runner and a greater long jumper.

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Rio2016 – an appraisal of the Ghanaian and African performances

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