Roundup: Ghana's performance in Rio Olympics abject but prospects exist

Ghana's performance at the Rio Olympic Games is nothing good to write home about.

The 16 athletes who represented the country failed to grab a single medal at the multi-sport event, bringing to an end another failed attempt by end Ghana's 24-year Olympic medal drought.

The last time Ghana won a medal at the Olympics was at the Barcelona 1992 where the men's football team, the Black Meteors, got bronze, and there had been three previous Olympic medals in boxing.

In all, Ghana has managed only four Olympic medals in comparison with Kenya, Africa's best performers at the Games, achieving a 86-medal feat.

Ghana's unimpressive performance at the Olympic Games has been blamed on the poor supporting system and investment in sports in general.

Despite the poor performance, there are positives that can be harnessed for future international sports assignments.

For example, Ghana's first female Olympic swimmer, Kaya Forson, competed in the women's 200m freestyle and got eliminated after finishing third in her heat.

She made her personal best of 2:16.02, a performance that earned her admiration from many Ghanaians.

Analysts said Ghana needs to desist from shoddy preparations and take all sporting disciplines seriously if it wishes to make a mark on the international scene and reverse its poor showing at the Olympics.

A former world boxing champion, Azumah Nelson, said he is not surprised about the results of the athletes as Ghana has concentrated on football to the detriment of the other sporting disciplines.

This, he noted, had caused the poor performance of the Olympic team at Rio 2016.

Erasmus Adorkor, Director of the National Sports College, has called on the government to support the athletes who competed at the just-ended Olympic Games with the needed resources to develop their talents.

Sports pundits have also called on the government and sports authorities to develop a sports development program to boost Ghana's success in the future.

"Huge investment must be put into this area by first identifying sports that Ghana will excel in, then putting in place a framework and a long term strategy to find the champions of tomorrow by incorporating the issues raised in point one and sticking to that plan," said Kwame Osei, a sports analyst and an experienced exercise physiologist.

But there is consolation in the fact that the Ghana Olympic squad comprised young athletes with an average age of 22 years.

Considering future ahead of them, and the exposure they have had, the squad is likely to make a greater impact in the Tokyo 2020. Endit