Medal Breakup:

– Badminton: 2 Gold, 1 Silver, 4 Bronze
– Athletics: 1 Silver, 3 Bronze
– Karate: 1 Bronze
– Golf: 1 Bronze

The Ghanaian badminton team’s standout performance earned them the top spot, with athletes like Amofa Andy, Obapomba Adu-Mintah, Rachel Quarcoo, and Moslena Asu showcasing their exceptional skills.

Ghana’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Hon. Kofi Iddie Adams, praised the athletes, saying, “The energy and determination of this team have been phenomenal.” The Ghana Olympic Committee also lauded the team’s achievements, highlighting their growth and potential.

This remarkable performance positions Ghana as a strong contender for future international competitions, including the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games. Congratulations, Team Ghana.

Credit: Elizabeth Alhassan

Mr. Lamptey took up the role for the first time by coordinating the technical side of the boxing tournament of the 13th Africa Games, supervising the entire fight programme which took place at the Bukom Boxing Arena from 14-22 March, 2024.

He was officially accredited by the International Boxing Association (IBA) following successful completion of the recognised exams in Marrakech, Morroco 2-5 February, 2023 but was only doing the work for the first time in the fight tournament of the first continental sporting fiesta to be hosted by his country.

“I wish to thank the African Boxing Confederation (AFBC) for my appointment,” Mr. Lamptey told Sportsinghana.com.

“I also wish to thank the leadership and executive members of the Ghana Boxing Federation for such opportunity to do the course and participate in the games,” he continued

Mr. Lamptey who was in the helm at the last Olympic Games in Japan during which Samuel Takyi ended Ghana’s 29-year wait for a medal, also reserved glowing praise for the Ghanaian Olympic administration for their support.

“I also want to thank the leadership of the Ghana Olympic Committee for supporting me to take such a course which facilitated my appointment from the AFBC and the mother body, the International Boxing Association (IBA),” George Lamptey stated.

“I wish to express my gratitude to the leadership of international technical officials for their support for a successful tournament,” he added.

Nevertheless, the man who now has a first ever experience in the job as IBA certified ITO, has not forgotten about his roots, pointing out his unwavering gratitude to all that pushed him on this journey up.

“My appreciation goes to national technical officials that assisted me,” he said.

“I also wish to congratulate all medallists of the national team, coaches and the entire administrators of the Ghana Boxing Federation. I’m grateful,” Mr. Lamptey affirmed.

Uganda finished joint 15th position with neighbours Tanzania, each winning three bronze medals.

Minimumweight Innocent Tumusiime, featherweight Kassim Mulungi and light-middleweight Semuddu Muzamir (pictured far left) won Uganda’s three bronze medals.

Tumusiime is a 19-year-old senior four student who made his international debut in Accra while Mulungi and Semuddu were representing the national team for the second time having made their debut at last year’s Elite Africa Championships in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Expressing his satisfaction, Muhangi’s statement reads: “First I have no complaint on officiating because as an ITO I know that decisions of judges are most of the time okay save for a few human errors

“My team performed well despite lack of good preparations which contributes about 85% to the success of an athlete. Individual effort of the athlete contributes 10% and luck in draws, byes, walkovers etc also contribute about 5%

“Our boxers go to competitions while relying on 15% not the 85% attributed to good preparations, I mean things like good technical coaches, physical, nutrition, friendly games , equipment, allowances etc.

“Uganda should have presented 13 men and 12 women but instead we were represented by five men and two women, meaning 18 boxers were left out.

“Who knows among the 18 left behind would have won more medals.”

Muhangi hinted the federation might hire a foreign coach to strengthen the technical bench.

“It’s important to hire a coach from countries like Cuba, Russia, Ukraine to supplement our local coaches because the level of boxing in those countries is higher than ours.”

Credit: AFBC Communications

Okong’o, a soldier with Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), has now been promoted to the rank of Sergeant, according to information from the Boxing Federation of Kenya (BFK).

The precious gold Okong’o won in Accra was the first one in 17 years for the East African countries, the last gold from the region in the African Games coming from another Kenyan, light-flyweight Suleiman Bilali, in 2007 in Algiers, Algeria.

Okong’o is following in the footsteps of his cousin, the celebrated Nick Okoth who is also a Sergeant in KDF and is a former captain of the national team. Okoth won gold and silver at the 2017 and 2022 Elite Africa Championships respectively, and also played a big role inspiring Okong’o to take up boxing.

We salute you Sergeant Okong’o for your great achievement.

Credit: AFBC Communications

A fuming Setlalekgosi told AFBC Communication drastic measurers have to be taken to avoid what he witnessed in Accra.

“I attended both Men and Women’s World Championships, I was also in Dakar for the Olympic qualifiers and several other international tournaments but I have never seen this kind of unfair officiating at any level as a coach,” he said, adding:”Bouts that were stopped because of the so called injuries are more than we’ve had before, we seriously need to develop our referees and judges, for as long as they officiate in Africa and not the world we will continue to suffer. Our officials are far behind.”

He singled out three of boxers, defending African Games flyweight champion Rajab Otukile Mahomed, bantamweight George Molwantwa and defending African Games female featherweight champion Keamogetse Kenosi, as victims of questionable officiating, and that even some boxers boxers from other countries were also affected.

Otukile’a bout against Fabrice Valerie of Mauritius was stopped in the first round due to a cut above his right eye, Molwantwa lost in the quarter-finals to Morocco’s Imad Azoui and Kenosi was outpointed by Algeria’s Chahira Selmouni.

Setlalekgosi is not amused how bouts involving the aforementioned boxers were handled.

“Rajab was in Accra to defend his title and for him to go out without throwing a meangful punch hurts, this is a semi-professional and not high school boxers, they know the game and are well experienced to look after themselves in the ring.

“His cut above the eye was not that serious for the bout to be stopped. You can’t stop a bout because of a cut that is above the eye. If the cut was serious Rajab would not have been able to be back in the gym the following day training for Mandela Cup, you can’t even tell he had a cut he was very much okay.”

On Molwantwa’s defeat, the Botswana coach described it as robbery without violence.”My boxer was clearly ahead on points, he even had the Moroccan counted in the third round, how he lost the judges know better and that’s why there was a lot of booing after the announcement of the winner.”

He also questioned the referee for giving Kenosi a standing count when she was tripped without any punch landing on her.

“It was just shocking to see this kind of disturbing officiating. I have been a coach for 31 years, I do not complain if I was beaten fairly. I don’t agree with the decisions taken against those boys, and the same ref counted for Kenosi when she was tripped and we lost that round.”

Setlalekgosi said the referees and judges some of whom have never been boxers should also put the amount of energy and time a boxer uses during training.

“We spent a lot of money preparing for the Games and then a ref stops a bout in less than 30 seconds of the first round, it’s very painful,” he said.

Credit: AFBC Communication

Ghana has for the first time hosted the African Games, Accra 2023, initiated under President John Mahama’s administration and continued by the government of the day. Much as the games showcased the sporting prowess of Africa, enhanced cultural exchanges, promoted solidarity, social cohesion and peace on the continent, the just ended games were a monumental disaster and total embarrassment to our dear country.

The Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government spent a staggering $240 million on the just ended Games. Yet the organisation and management of the event was poor and shambolic. Quite apart from the fact that it lacked clear combined effect of economic viability, the organisation of the games lacked clear cut policies for tourism promotion and trade facilitation. These would have given us some economic value for the huge expenditure on the games.

While the government sacrificed value for money principles and breached procurement procedures, infringed on the Public Financial Management Act leading to huge expenditure, Ghanaians have been swayed by the frivolous outcome of the games to believe all is well.

Given the current state of the Ghanaian economy which has been rendered bankrupt by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government, emerging details about the hefty expenditure on the games raise eyebrows and concerns among Ghanaians. Several unfortunate incidents that were recorded in the course of the games left many wondering whether that quantum of money was really spent on the games.

Four years ago, Morocco hosted the 12th edition of the African Games, and spent €46 million. Prior to that, Congo Brazzaville spent $60 million to host the 11th edition. With this amount, they built an ultramodern 65,000-seater capacity stadium, a beautiful games village and a new sports dome complex for indoor games.

Australia on the other hand, in July 2023 withdrew its bid to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games on economic grounds. At the time of their withdrawal, Australia’s economic conditions were nowhere near our current self-inflicted economic crises.

Despite the millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money voted for the 13th African Games, it was shocking to hear some of our athletes complain about how they were neglected; some had to provide for their own personal kits and equipment resulting in some of them wearing inappropriate outfits in the course of their events. Much to the disbelief and dismay of many Ghanaians, it was reported that some of our athletes were conveyed to the games grounds at Borteyman in the trunk of an old pickup vehicle.

If we ask, was there no provision for transportation for Team Ghana in all the disciplines? Ghanaians deserve to know how the money that was allocated for transportation and other games logistics was spent. No athlete, for that matter Ghanaian athlete, deserve such degrading treatment.

In addition, our national cycling champion, Michael Naaba had to rely on his own personal bicycle which unfortunately broke down in the middle of the cycling competition. He had no choice but to withdraw from the race. Government, the National Sports Authority, the Sports Ministry and the Local Organising Committee made no effort whatsoever to provide an immediate intervention to get him another bicycle. What happened to all the money voted for logistics and equipment. “Na sika no wo hi”?

It was further reported that the first volleyball match was delayed for about 35 minutes as no nets had been installed. Someone must answer for this basic logistical challenge despite the huge amount the LOC received.

At the start of the cycling competition on Sunday, 10th March, 2024, there was no ambulance which delayed the start of the event for over an hour. When the ambulance finally arrived, there was not enough fuel, the driver complained and it took a private individual to fuel the ambulance for the competition to start. That was a national embarrassment before an international audience and cameras. The question is, was the Ambulance Service part of the planning of the Games? if yes, what accounted for the delay that kept cyclists waiting and almost led to the cancellation of the cycling event?

It is important to give a brief breakdown of the various budgeted allocations for the African Games. Parliament approved a total of GH¢150 million in the 2024 Budget for LOC, made up of GH¢100 million for goods and services and GH¢50 million for CAPEX. In addition to this, an amount of $48 million, which is equivalent to about GH¢600 million, was allocated to the LOC for operational expenses. Put together, the LOC alone received about GH¢750 million for its operations. “Na sika no wo hi”?

We must also take note that Parliament approved an amount of $195 million for infrastructure development for the games. We shall in our next interaction with you give further details on the utilization of this amount.

Another issue of concern was the dumsor at the Cape Coast Stadium, the Games Village and the other centres of the games including the University of Ghana, Legon in Accra which left the guests stranded. While the government has been busy denying that dumsor is back, dumsor was advertising itself at the Games. It was so embarrassing to have some of our foreign guests sit outside their rooms due to dark shades which had enveloped the entire area; this left most guests in fear and wondered what was happening. This was most embarrassing. Knowing very well that we had international guests, couldn’t we have saved our country from this shame?

As if that was not shameful enough, the Local Organising Committee employed some people to spray the dead grass on the football pitch with green oil paint at the University of Ghana Sports Stadium in total deception. This action clearly affected most of the players on the pitch. How could we have lowered our standard to this level?

Another issue had to do with our below standard hockey pitch. South Africa on 18th March had to withdraw both their men and women hockey teams from the competition due to the fact that the designated Theodosia Okoh Hockey pitch was not in a certified standard condition. The blame should be laid squarely at the door-steps of the Ministry and the Local Organising Committee, after all the assurances they gave to the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee [SASCOC], that the pitches would be ready for international standard competition. Again, the Ministry and the Local Organising Committee embarrassed Ghana and failed the continental sporting fraternity.

Permit us to touch on an observation made at the opening ceremony. With all the legends and sporting icons Ghana can boast of, it is interesting that Reks Brobbey who is serving as the Chief Operating Officer of the LOC was chosen to light the African Games flame. Is that not a conflict of interest? How can someone who serves as the Local Organizing Committee [LOC] as deputy chairman assume such a role? For the records, Mr. Reks Brobbey cannot be considered as a legend, if the definition of the word is to be adhered to. He has never won any medal for Ghana nor made any meaningful impact per his personal records in his athletic participation for Ghana, especially at the Olympic Games in 1984. He only participated in collegiate sports and one Olympic; is that the criteria? But on the other hand, we have Azuma Nelson [the first Ghanaian to have won a boxing gold medal at the African Games in Algiers in 1978]. We also have Abedi Pele [three times consecutive ‘Africa Footballer of the Year’ – 1991, 1992 and 1993]. Another icon worth mentioning is Professor Francis Dodoo, whose triple jump record of 17.12 still remains unbroken at the African Games since 1987 in Nairobi, Kenya. All these icons were sidelined because of their perceived political backgrounds, without looking at the larger picture of national unity through sports. However, Reks Brobbey, an NPP apparatchik, who has actually benefited from Ghana as an athlete without ever winning a medal for Ghana was made the Chief Operating Officer [COO] of the 13th African Games, Accra 2023. In an obvious conflict of interest situation, this same individual was the ‘Touch Bearer’ and ‘Ambassador’ of the African Games during the opening ceremony, an act traditionally reserved for distinguished legends and icons and definitely not someone, whose athletics record pales in to insignificance when compared with his contemporaries’.

But for arm-wrestling, a non-Olympic event which was admitted into the African Games for the very first time, Ghana’s performance and overall standing on the medals table would have been a horrible disaster. The Arm-wrestling Team saved the nation with 41 medals. It is worth noting though that only eight (8) out of the 52 participating countries competed in arm-wrestling.

While we celebrate the feat chalked in football, boxing and weightlifting, we were disappointing in the rest of the events because of very poor preparation. It is unacceptable that huge sums were voted for the games, without proper and needed interest in the preparation of our sports men and women. Despite the medal haul and its attendant fun fair, it must be noted that no Ghanaian sports man or woman qualified for the upcoming Olympic games in Paris in July at the just ended African games, which was one of our targets. It is clear that Ghana did not give our athletes the best of preparation and this reflected in their performance.

We would however, against the drift of the story, congratulate the Black Princesses and the Satellites teams for coming out victorious in football; as well as congratulate sports men and women from other sporting disciplines such as Boxing, Athletics, Weightlifting, Hockey, Tae Kwan-Do, Swimming and Volleyball, who won some medals (27) out of about 23 disciplines that participated in the games.

It emerged from our interactions with many Ghanaians that they did not even have any information that Ghana was hosting the 13th African Games, much more the designated places for the sporting activities. There was low publicity before and during the games. This affected effective participation of Ghanaians. We however wish to commend media men and media houses and Ghanaians who on their own publicised the events in various ways. We further wish to specially commend the students of the University of Ghana, Legon for their splendid support during the games.

From all the issues associated with the just ended 13th African Games, one can say that, the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government, the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS), the National Sports Authority and the Local Organising Committee [LOC] have failed Ghanaians, all things considered. Huge amounts of taxpayers’ money that was committed did not yield the desired impact and in addition, caused us disgrace with substandard pitches, disruptions to competitions, logistical challenges, poor preparation of Team Ghana and poor management of the 13th African Games on the whole.

As the curtains have been drawn on the Games, can we boldly say as a country that we have had value for money? Amid the economic hardship, Government should have been more prudent in the hosting of the 13th African Games. Government should have been more sensitive and measured in taking decisions that would have achieved better results than the shame and disgrace we have brought upon ourselves with such huge expenditures.

In the coming days, we shall give Ghanaians much more detailed account of the rot in the preparation and the hosting of the 13th African Games. The rot associated with the just ended games is too much for one press conference. It is unfortunate that President Akufo-Addo attacked Ghanaians who suggested the need for Ghana to rethink our hosting of the games due to the collapsed economy and the hardships created by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government. While the President’s unwarranted attack is worrying, we are not surprised. His tactless conduct is consistent with his baseless “cease and desist” letter to the Rt. Hon. Speaker. It is also not different from his attack on the Aflao chief, the chiefs and people of Mepe and Kwabre East, as well as his unprovoked attacks on the chiefs and people of Ekumfi. Is the President telling us to be quiet and just look on while he and his team continue to mismanage our resources? Instead of President Akufo-Addo using such an opportunity to unite us, regardless of the various concerns expressed, his closing remarks are rather an insult to all who expressed genuine concerns about the preparation and hosting of the just ended 13th African Games. This contradicts the vision of our forebears such as Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, whose vision was to use sports to unite the people of the continent, hence the continental games.

In conclusion, we wish to call on the government to come out and explain to Ghanaians what accounted for all the shameful occurrences and render an unqualified apology. We, the NDC Minority Caucus, call for a bi-partisan Parliamentary probe into the budget and expenditure for the preparation and organisation of the Games.

We wish to take this opportunity to wish all the foreign participating countries a safe journey back home. We hope they enjoyed the legendary Ghanaian hospitality. Thank you.

Credit: Hon. Kwabenya Woyome, Ranking Member, Parliamentary Select Committee on Youth, Sports and Culture 

Accra 2023 marked the first time Ghana was hosting the Games, hauling 68 medals- 19 gold, 29 silver and 20 bronze- the largest in the nation’s history.

This marks the nation’s most successful participation since the Games’ inception in 1965, surpassing its previous best of 27 medals attained during the 1973 Games in Lagos, Nigeria.

With the nation waiting for success to begin the celebrations, Winnifred Ntumi delivered the first medal in weightlifting to kick off Ghana’s historic haul.

Ghana’s most popular sport, football made history with both male and female teams winning gold at stake in their respective categories over three weeks.

In other team sports, the female hockey team also took home gold. In an unprecedented performance, arm-wrestling took the Games by storm with eight gold medals.

Boxing also stepped up to take its place in the history of the Games with four gold medals, where Samuel Takyi, Ghana’s sole Olympic medalist in Tokyo, and Joseph Commey, a recent Commonwealth Games medalist delivered yet again.

One area that pulled the most crowd and attention and got rewarded for its resilience was athletics. With fans filling every space at every event, the athletes put on a show, claiming three gold medals spectacularly.

Ghana, hosting the highest number of disciplines since the Games’ inception finished sixth out of 53 participating nations, marking a significant improvement from her 15th position in the 2019 Rabat edition, where the team returned with 13 medals.

Similarly, the Accra 2023 Games hosted three disciplines more than the Rabat event of 26 disciplines. Until the Rabat event, host countries had been averaging 20 disciplines.

Over three weeks, the just-ended edition brought together 5000 elite athletes and coaches from 54 African countries in 29 multi-sports disciplines.

The event held over two cities; Accra and Cape Coast was used as an official qualifier for the XXXIII Olympic Games to be held in Paris this year.

The Olympic qualifying events comprised athletes, swimming, cycling, badminton, wrestling, tennis, table tennis and triathlon.

Credit: Joy Online 

It was the best ever performance by the Nigerians in the Africa Games boxing competition, emerging overall winners for the third time after winning in 1973 in Lagos and 2003 in Abuja.

The excited Nigerians are definitely on cloud nine for their superb performance which deserves a token of appreciation from the generous government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

By winning eight gold medals, Nigeria equalled Kenya’s feat of scooping the same number of gold medals at the 1987 African Games in Nairobi. Nigeria also set a new record of 10 boxers qualifying for the finals of the African Games boxing tournament. Well done national coach Tony Konyegewachie for a job well done.

Light-flyweight Zainabu Adeshina, beaten by Algeria’s Roumaysa Boualam and bantamweight Shukurat Kareem, who was defeated 5-0 by Morocco’s entertainer Widad Bertal, were the only two Nigerian losers in the finals.

The eight gold medallists: featherweight Joy Ojo Nene, men’s featherweight Dolapo Omole, middleweight Patricia Mbata, heavyweight Adams Olaore, lightweight Cynthia Ogunsemilore, light-middleweight Blessing Oraekwe, light-heavyweight Jacinta Umunnakwe and super-heavyweight Ifeanyi Onyekwere.

Defending champions Morocco 2-2-3, whose two gold medallists were world heavyweight champion Khadija Mardi and Africa bantamweight champion, Widad Bertal, dropped to sixth position with their arch-rivals Algeria 4-2-5 having the last laugh in the North Africa supremacy battle by finishing second followed by Ghana 4-1-2, DR Congo 2-5-4 and Zambia 2-3-2 in fifth position.

Flyweight Patrick Chinyemba and welterweight Gerald Kabinda won Zambia’s two gold medals while lightweight Andrew Chilata, bantamweight Mwengo Mwale and light-welterweight Emmanuel Katema return home with silver medals.

Ghana may have put up their best ever performance in the African Games boxing tournament but failing to win the overall title for the first time was a bitter pill to swallow. Ghana’s four gold medallists were minimumweight Mohammed Aryeetey, bantamweight Amadu Mohammed, lightweight Joseph Commey and light-welterweight Samuel Takyi with cruiserweight Abubakar Kamoko settling for silver and two bronze medals from minimumweight Janet Acquah and flyweight Theo Allotey.

Mozambique glamour girls, light-middleweight Alicinda Dos Santos and middleweight Rady Gramane – both double Africa champions – were this time demoted by Nigerian boxers to silver and bronze medals respectively having dominated the African events for the last three years. Take heart champs. You win some and lose some. All the three Mozambique finalists lost. Featherweight Armando Sigauque was beaten by Nigeria’s Dolapo Omole and welterweight Isabel Mulungo defeated by Ethiopia’s Betel Wolde Dedi.Mozambique 0-3-1 finished 9th and South Africa 0-1-1 took the 12th position.

In a battle of southpaws, Alcinda suffered a shocking points defeat to aggressive and colourful Blessings Oraekwe and Gramane was silenced by London-based Patricia Mbata in the semi-finals.

Kudos to Ethiopia 2-0-0 and Kenya 1-0-1 for their notable performance with the Horn of Africa country winning two gold medals to finish seventh followed by eighth-placed Kenya on one gold and a bronze.

Sensational flyweight Getelhem Gayiza won flyweight gold by outpointing Morocco’s more experienced Rabab Cheddar and Gete Wolde Dedi clinched welterweight gold.

Our salute to Kenya Defence Forces soldier, Edwin Okong’o, for putting a smile on the faces of success-starved Kenyan boxing fans and ending East Africa’s 17-year gold medal drought in the African Games by outpointing Morocco’s Yassine Elouarz in the finals. Cheers to female bantamweight bronze medallist Amina Martha for your courage and determination. We wish you quick recovery following a right shoulder injury in semi-final bout against Nigeria’s Shukurat Kareem.

With Kenya the top East African country in Accra, their neighbours Tanzania and Uganda placed joint 15th position each winning three bronze medals though ring analysts felt Tanzania’s light-heavyweight Yusuf Changalawe should have won his semi-final bout against DR Congo’s Pita Kabeji. Tanzania’s other two bronze medals came from lightweight Ezra Paul and cruiserweight Musa Maregesi while Uganda got theirs from minimumweight Innocent Tumusiime, featherweight Kassim Murungi and light-middleweight Muzamir Semuddu.

Tunisia 0-2-5 and Egypt 0-2-2 are used to finish among the top countries but this time around they’ve slumped to 10th and 11th positions without a single gold medal.

On a lighter note, I had to use my binoculars to locate my Southern Africa friends Botswana on the medals table.

They’re anchored at the bottom of the table with a bronze by featherweight Keamogetse Kenosi who was the defending champion. Botswana is however not alone at the bottom as they have the warm company of Mauritius, Cameroon and Liberia, each one of them with a bronze like Botswana.

Take heart. Something is better than nothing at all. In any case Botswana did very well in 2019 by finishing second behind overall winners Morocco. Unfair officiating in bouts involving bantamweight George Molwantwa and flyweight Rajab Otukile Mahomed cannot go unnoticed.

For those countries which did not win medals, remain inspired with the Olympic motto: participation is more important than winning medals. Encouragingly, some of you also hooked up with your buddies after a long time. That’s the joy of the African Games. Remain inspired as we now turn our focus to the inaugural Mandela Boxing Cup tournament scheduled for April 15 -21 in Durban, South Africa.

Credit: AFBC Communications[tps_start_button label=”Start slideshow” style=”” class=””]

Sensational flyweight Betelhem Gayiza, who’s just one-year-old in the national team, maintained her fairytale run in Accra by punching her way to the finals with an inspiring 5-0 victory over Africa silver medallist Muamba Nyembo of DR Congo on Wednesday

The 24-year-old Gayiza, a member of Addis Police Boxing Club, now joins compatriot Betel Wolde Dedi who is already in the finals, and will trade leather against Isabel Mulungo from Mozambique in the welterweight division which attracted only two boxers.

Gayiza takes on Morocco’s silver medallist at the 2022 Africa Championships Rabab Cheddar in the finals.

The two boxers are aiming to emulate Gemechu Bezabeh, so far the only Ethiopian boxer to have won gold in the African Games.

Bezabeh, now based in the United Kingdom, led Ethiopia to their best ever performance in the African Games in 1987 in Nairobi. Ethiopia placed third overall with one gold, two silver and one bronze medal behind winners Kenya and second-placed Uganda.

Bezabeh won flyweight gold by outpointing Tanzania’s Benjamin Mwangata in the finals with light-welterweight Tewedros Mitiku and welterweight Sahelu Mekuria settling for silver medals, both losing to Kenyans David “DK” Kamau and Africa’s first black Olympic gold medallist Robert Wangila respectively. The bronze medal came from featherweight Yonas Wobishet.

Ethiopia sent seven boxers to Accra under head coach Tewodrose Tilahun assisted by Efrem Negashe.

*_AFBC Communications_*