Ghana Targets First Olympics Gold Medal In Tokyo 2020

The Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC)  has launched a campaign, "Ghana champions for gold" ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.

       This is to ensure Ghana wins her first gold medal at the Games.

        The campaign was launched barely two days after the official mascots of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games were outdoored in Tokyo.

        Mr. Ben Nunoo Mensah, president of GOC, said at the launch of the campaign, was to show Ghana's readiness for the Games.

        He said his GOC led administration would not repeat the same mistakes of the past, where last minute preparations had always affected the performance of Team Ghana at the Games.

        He said that they were bent on achieving something remarkable, hence the early preparations for both athletes and managers.

          "The GOC believes in early preparations for championships. What we have done in the past is to wait for two, three months before competitions and then we start putting ourselves together.

          “That has changed. We as much as possible want to start early especially with our sponsorship drive and to get our athletes to prepare well.

      “That is why somewhere last year we named all our chef de missions for championships all the way to Tokyo 2020," he said.

       Mr Nunoo Mensah added, “out performances at Olympic Games in the last 20 - 30 years  hasn’t been that impressive as everyone of us would have wished it was. The problem is that we don’t prepare well. And that is why we want to start early. Not only preparing the athletes but preparing in terms of funding, preparing in terms of the hype around the games and then getting people to come on board to support and to push team Ghana. 

      “We are hoping that for the first time in our Olympic history, things are going to be done properly, things are going to be done early and then Ghana is going to go to the Games well prepared and come back with the kind results that every Ghana wants to have from our athletes."

       Mr Paul Achoe, Chef de Missions for Team Ghana for Tokyo 2020, who outlined the roadmap for the team ahead of the Games noted that,  winning a gold medal was not going to come easy, for that they needed to prepare very well.

     He recalled Ghana,' first medal at the Olympics in 1964, where Mr Eddie Blay won bronze medal in boxing which was coincidentally in Tokyo.

     Mr Achoe said, going back to Tokyo should be a good omen for the team to achieve all its target.

       “Going back to Japan in 2020, fifty six years down the line where Mr Eddie Blay won the first bronze medal for our dear nation, our aim among others is to transform that historic performance into a stepping stone, which would lift us up to the ultimate which is going to be our first gold medal as far our participations in Olympic Games is concern."

       “To achieve this we have to start our preparations early enough to enable us build champions from Ghana who will leave up to our expectations, aspirations and dreams," he said.

      Mr Achoe said, they had setup a strategic team to create awareness for the Games as well as attracting prospective sponsors.

       “In the light of this we have put in place a strategic working team which would plan and put together activities which would make it possible for us to achieve our laid down goals.

       “A thirteen week educational TV package has been put in place to promote and propagate our participation in the 2020 Olympic Games. This would build the confidence level of our athletes, encourage them to aim at the gold and also strengthen our sponsorship drive.

         “Musical shows, football matches, floats and countdown activations have been designed as other means of raising funds outside the traditional appeals to corporate Ghana. This is targeted to bring good returns on investment to cooperate entities and beyond. This would also give us adequate funds to qualify a lot of our athletes and prepare them well to enhance our chances of getting more gold medals."