Ghana excelled in the African Para-Powerlifting Regional Championship organised by the World Para Powerlifting on Monday, winning seven gold medals to place top.
The gold medalists were Haruna Tahiru in the Men’s Elite 107+kg, Emmanuel Nii Tetteh Oku in the Men’s Elite 72kg, Patricia Nyamekye in the Women’s Elite 67kg, Isaac Obeng in the Men’s Elite 65kg event, Akosua Nkansah in the Women’s Elite 55kg, Juliana Ampofo in the Women’s Elite 79kg and Frank Fudzi in the Men’s Elite 97kg category.
Other nationals that won gold were from Cote d’Ivoire which includes Kouadio Akissi Michelle (Women’s Elite 45kg), Bance Ousseny (Men’s Elite 54kg) and Diamoutene Alidou (Men’s Elite 59kg).
The rest of the medalists were Burkina Faso’s Victorine Guissou (Women’s Elite 73kg) and Oumarou N’Ziba (Men’s Elite 88kg), Sankoh Rugiatu (Women’s Elite 86kg) of Sierra Leone, Camara Aminatu (Women’s Elite 86+kg) from Guinea and Bawa Aliou (Men’s Elite 49kg) from Togo.
The maiden event had 15 countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Ghana, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone and Togo in attendance.
Speaking after the event, the President of the African Paralympic Committee (AfPC), Mr Samson Deen, commended the athletes for the efforts in the first ever international competition in Ghana.
One of Ghana’s top para power lifters and gold medalist, Haruna Tahiru, thanked the organisers and urged the athletes to keep training to remain in good shape for future competitions.
BY MICHAEL D. ABAYATEYE
