Ghana Olympic Committee prepares national teams for Rio 2016

The Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) says it has stepped up its efforts in supporting the country's national teams for international assignments.

The GOC is paying air fares and accommodation fees, among other things, to these teams in a bid to assist Ghanaian sportsmen and women who have the best chance of qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

A GOC-sponsored national cycling team is currently in Morocco to participate in an African Continental Rio 2016 Qualifier.

"In sponsoring the national teams for the qualifiers, the GOC is going beyond its core mandate of leading Team Ghana to the Olympic Games after National Sports Federations and the National Sports Authority have prepared and supported the national teams to qualify for the Games," it said in a statement.

The Ghana Cycling Federation is the fourth national sports federation to benefit from the Olympic Committee's drive to assist prospective Ghanaian sportsmen/women to qualify for Rio 2016.

The GOC has previously sponsored the national taekwondo, table tennis and badminton teams to participate in African Rio 2016 Continental qualifiers.

It has also over the years provided student-athletic scholarships for some of the most talented Ghanaian athletes.

Presently, only 800m runner Alex Amankwah has qualified to participate in the Rio Games but the qualification window for most disciplines closes between May and June, 2016. Endit