2024 Olympics: Azamati, Saminu fail to reach 100m final after finishing 9th and 7th

Ghana will have no representatives in the final of the 100m race at the ongoing 2024 Olympic Games in Paris after both Benjamin Azamata and Abdul-Rasheed Saminu fell short in the semi-finals.

Azamati finished ninth in the Semi-Final 1 on Sunday after recording a time of 10.17 seconds on the track, while Saminu also only managed a seventh-place finish in the Semi-Final 3 with a time of 10.05 seconds.

Azamati sealed his place in the semi-finals when he finished second in Heat 1 of the previous round, with his time of 10.08 seconds only bettered by Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson in the heat.

However, he could not reproduce another scintillating performance in the semi-finals, where he was paired against some heavyweights, including Noah Lyles and Oblique Seville.

Azamati, Saminu fall short in 100m semi-finals

Despite making a great start to the race, Azamati couldn’t maintain his momentum and ended up finishing at the bottom of the contest.

The race was ultimately won by Jamaican sprinter Seville with a time of 9.81 seconds, while America’s Lyles took second place with a time of 9.83 seconds.

In Saminu’s case, he had to contend against seasoned runners like Kishane Thompson, Ferdinand Omanyala and Kerley Fred.

Despite his best efforts, he finished seventh as Thompson and Fred took the first two positions, respectively, to advance to the 100m final.

Saminu can, however, take consolation in the fact that he edged Omanyala, with the Kenyan sprinter finishing eighth in the race.

Meanwhile, Ghana will have one more chance to win a medal in athletics when they take to the tracks for the 4×100 relays.