Joseph Amoah (sprinter)

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Joseph Amoah
2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships (40837979710).jpg
Amoah in 2018
Personal information
Full nameJoseph Paul Amoah
Born (1997-01-12) 12 January 1997 (age 24)
Greater Accra, Ghana[1]
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Weight68 kg (150 lb)[2]
Sport
CountryGhana
SportAthletics
Event(s)100 m, 200 m
College teamCoppin State Eagles (2017–2021)[3]
Coached byCarl Hicks and Jamie Wilson[4]
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)
  • 100 m: 10.01 (2019)
  • 200 m: 20.08 (2019, NR)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Ghana
African Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Rabat 4×100 m relay

Joseph Paul Amoah (born 12 January 1997) is a Ghanaian sprinter specializing in the 100 metres and the 200 metres. He competed at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in the 100 metres and 4 × 100 metres relay, and at the 2019 African Games he won a gold medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay.[5][6][7] He was also a 100 metres finalist at the 2019 African Games, finishing fourth.[7]

Amoah has personal best times of 10.01 seconds and 20.08 seconds in the 100 metres and 200 metres respectively, both set at the 2019 NCAA Division I Championships. His personal best performance in the 200 metres broke the Ghanaian record previously held by three-time Olympian Emmanuel Tuffour by 0.07 seconds.[4][8]

Early life[]

Amoah was born on 12 January 1997 to Thomas Amoah and Alberta Antwi in Greater Accra, Ghana, and was raised by his uncle Dr. Victor Antwi from middle school onwards.[4] His preferred sport growing up was football, but transitioned to athletics while attending Prempeh College in Kumasi where his running talent was discovered.[1] As a 19-year old he emerged as an Olympic hopeful for Ghana in the sprints after running 100 metres in 10.08 seconds at the 2016 Ghana's Fastest Human competition.[9]

University[]

After his prep career at Prempeh College, he decided to quit athletics when enrolling into Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).[4] However the head coach of athletics at KNUST had heard of Amoah's talent while at Prempeh college and convinced Amoah to join the team with the help of his uncle.[4][1] In 2017 he transferred to Coppin State University in Baltimore, which competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the highest level of intercollegiate athletics in the United States.[1][4]

At the 2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championships in May, Amoah became the first Ghanaian in any sport to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics by running 200 metres in a personal best time in 20.20 seconds. It was the fastest performance from a Ghanaian since 1995 and also qualified him for the 2019 World Athletics Championships.[10] Later in June of that season at the NCAA Division I Championships, he improved his personal best times in the 100 metres and 200 metres to 10.01 seconds and 20.08 seconds respectively.[4] He broke three-time Olympian Emmanuel Tuffour's 24-year old Ghanaian record in the 200 metres (20.15 seconds, set at altitude), and qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 100 metres.[8]

2021 World Relays[]

Amoah was selected to represent Ghana at the 2021 World Relays on 1–2 May in Poland, which served as a qualifier for the 2021 Olympic Games and the 2022 World Championships for Ghana.[11] In the final Amoah anchored Ghana to bronze with a time of 39.11 seconds, but the team was disqualified after footage review showed Amoah receiving the baton beyond the passing zone from teammate Joseph Oduro Manu.[12] However because they qualified for the final with a time of 38.79 seconds in the semi finals, Ghana with Amoah still qualified to compete at the Olympic Games.[13]

Achievements[]

International championships[]

Representing  Ghana
Year Competition Position Event Time Wind (m/s) Venue Notes
2018 Commonwealth Games 15th 200 m 20.99 0.0 Gold Coast, Australia [14]
2019 African Games 4th 100 m 10.11 +1.6 Rabat, Morocco [7]
1st 4×100 m relay 38.30 N/A [7]
21st 200 m 21.20 +0.3 [7]
World Championships 34th 100 m 10.36 −0.8 Doha, Qatar [5]
13th 4×100 m relay 38.24 N/A [6]
2021 World Relays 3rd DQ 4×100 m relay 39.11 N/A Chorzów, Poland Passing outside zone[12]

National championships[]

Representing the Coppin State Eagles
Year Competition Position Event Time Wind (m/s) Venue Notes
2018 NCAA Division I Championships 13th 200 m 20.60 +1.1 Eugene, United States
2019 NCAA Division I Championships 8th 100 m 10.22 +0.8 Austin, United States
6th 200 m 20.19 +0.8
14th 4×100 m relay 39.30 N/A
2021 NCAA Division I Championships 15th 4×100 m relay 39.51 N/A Eugene, United States
9th 100 m 10.21 +0.9
10th 200 m 20.51 +1.4
  • NCAA results from Track & Field Results Reporting System profile.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d Watta, Evelyn (2019-08-29). "Joseph Amoah: The Ghanaian sprint hope with big dreams". Olympic Channel. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  2. ^ a b "JOSEPH AMOAH". Coppin State Eagles. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  3. ^ a b "JOSEPH AMOAH COPPIN STATE". TFRRS. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Lee, Edward (2019-07-05). "Coppin State's Joseph Amoah emerges as world-class sprinter, eyes representing Ghana at 2020 Olympics". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  5. ^ a b "100 Metres Men - Round 1" (PDF). IAAF. 2019-10-06. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  6. ^ a b "4 x 100 Metres Relay Men - Round 1" (PDF). IAAF. 2019-10-04. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Results" (PDF). Atos. 2019-08-29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-09-01.
  8. ^ a b Tahiru, Fentuo (2019-06-06). "Ghana Athletics: Joseph Amoah breaks 24-year old National Record in 200m". Citi Sports Online. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  9. ^ Malonga, Edwy (2016-10-05). "Joseph Paul Amoah, bientôt dans la cour des grands ?". LCI. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
  10. ^ "Joseph Amoah becomes first Ghanaian to qualify for 2020 Olympic Games". Joy Online. 2019-05-06. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  11. ^ "Ghana’s team for World Athletics Relay". Ghanaian Times (2021-04-29). Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  12. ^ a b "World Relays: Ghana disqualified in final despite finishing 3rd". Citi Sports via ModernGhana (2021-05-02). Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  13. ^ Tahiru, Fentuo (2019-05-01). "World Relays: Ghana men’s 4x100m Relay team qualify for Tokyo Olympics [VIDEO]". Citi Sports. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  14. ^ "Athletics Official Results" (PDF). Commonwealth Games. 2018-04-11. p. 14. Retrieved 2020-01-27.

External links[]

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