Ghana secures Rio 2016 scholarships for 12 athletes

The Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) on Wednesday announced it had secured "Rio 2016 scholarships" for 12 Ghanaian athletes.

The scholarship, worth 200,000 U.S. dollars, is Ghana's highest ever number of Olympic scholarships through the Olympic Solidarity.

Ghana had never received more than four International Olympic Committee scholarships prior to this latest development.

But Team Ghana's strong showing on the international scene in recent times has received some significant international attention.

The scholarships form part of the GOC's goal of assisting elite athletes selected and proposed by their national federations in their preparation and qualification for Rio 2016.

The President of the GOC, Francis Dodoo, said the scholarship would equip the athletes for the upcoming Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

"We are glad about this as it will aid the athletes ahead of the commencement of the Games in Rio," he said.

As part of the scholarships, the athletes will receive access to appropriate training facilities, pocket money and limited travel costs to Olympic qualification competitions.

The Olympic scholarship starts from January 1, 2015, and will be divided into separate terms, each running for a four-month period leading up to August 31, 2016.

This brings the GOC's total contribution to sports development in the country to over 900,000 dollars since 2012. Endite