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Benjamin Azamati

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Benjamin Azamati
Azamati-Kwaku at the 2023 African Games
Personal information
Birth nameBenjamin Azamati-Kwaku
NationalityGhanaian
Born (1998-01-14) 14 January 1998 (age 26)
Akim Oda
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
CountryGhana
SportAthletics
Event(s)100 m, 200 m
College teamWest Texas A&M University
Achievements and titles
Personal best
  • 100 m: 9.90 (2022, NR)
200 m: 20.13 (2021)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Ghana
African Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Rabat 4×100 m relay
Silver medal – second place 2023 Accra 4×100 m relay

Benjamin Azamati-Kwaku (born 14 January 1998) is a Ghanaian sprinter, who currently competes for ASICS Global.

He made history by breaking a 22-year national record held by Leo Myles Mills on 26 March 2021 in Texas by clocking 9.97 seconds to qualify him for the Tokyo Summer Olympics.[1]

Mustafa Ussif, the Sports Minister and Dr Bella Bello Bitugu, the Director of the University of Ghana Sports Directorate, congratulated Benjamin Azamati on the national feat.[2]

Early life and education

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Azamati was born on 14 January 1998 to John and Faustina Azamati in Akim Oda, Ghana.[3][4]

His preferred sport growing up was football, but transitioned to athletics while attending Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School in Accra where his running talent was discovered by his PE masters (Nathaniel Botchway, Gideon Dukplah and Kofi Dadzie).[3][4]

Occupation and honors

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As a 21-year old he emerged as an Olympic hopeful for Ghana in the sprints after running 100 metres in 10.02 seconds HT at the 2019 Ghana's Fastest Human competition.[5][6] He won a gold medal in the 4x100m relay at the 2019 African Games in Rabat. He won the GUSA 100m on two occasions.[4]

In 2021, he improved the 100m national record with 9.97 and improved his 200m personal best to 20.13.

On 25 March 2022, Azamati improved his own 100m national record to an early world lead of 9.90 seconds in Texas, USA, making him the joint 4th fastest collegiate of all-time with Trayvon Bromell.[7] This mark also placed him within the top 50 all-time 100m sprint performances with only 6 Africans running faster in the continent at the time.[8]

Personal bests

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Outdoor

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  • 100 metres - 9.90 (+2.0 m/s, Texas 2022)
  • 200 metres - 20.13 (+1.1 m/s, Texas 2021)

Indoor

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  • 60 metres - 6.54 ( Albuquerque 2022)
  • 200 metres - 20.57 (Texas 2022)

Achievements

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International championships

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Representing  Ghana
Year Competition Position Event Time Wind (m/s) Venue Notes
2019 African Games 1st 4 × 100 m relay 38.30 Rabat, Morocco [9][10]
World Championships 13th 4 x 100 m relay 38.24 (SB) Doha, Qatar [11]
2021 World Relay Championships DQ 4 x 100 m relay — Chorzów, Poland [12]
2020 Summer Olympics DQ 4 x 100 m relay — Tokyo [13]
2022 Oslo ExxonMobil Bislett Games 4th 100m 10.15 Oslo [14]
Paris-St-Denis Meeting Areva 8th 200m 20.77 Paris [15]
2022 World Athletics Championships 29th 100m 10.18 Oregon [16]
5th 4 x 100m relay 38.07 (NR) [17]
Commonwealth Games 4th 100 m 10.16 Birmingham [3][18][19][20]

References

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  1. ^ "Leo Myles Mills reacts to Benjamin Azamati's 100m national record". GhanaWeb. 29 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Sports Minister, University of Ghana congratulate Benjamin Azamati on new 100m record". myjoyonline.com. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Athletics – Benjamin Azamati Kwaku (Ghana)". www.the-sports.org. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  4. ^ a b c "Benjamin Azamati: All you need to know about Ghana's sprint king". GhanaWeb. 10 August 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  5. ^ Online, African Post (27 March 2021). "23-year-old Ghanaian sprinter, Benjamin Azamati breaks a 22-year-old record and set for Tokyo 2021 Olympics". African Post Online. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Benjamin Azamati: Ghana's Beacon of Hope In Athletics". Kwesilive.com. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  7. ^ "USTFCCCA InfoZone: Records and Lists ::: USTFCCCA". Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  8. ^ "100 Metres - men - senior - outdoor". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  9. ^ "12th African Games Athletics – Results Book – Rabat, Morocco, 26th – 30th August 2019"" (PDF). www.atos.net. ATOS. 29 August 2019. p. 57. Archived from the original (pdf) on 1 September 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Athletics - African Games 2019 - Results Men". www.the-sports.org. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  11. ^ "4 x 100 Metres Relay Men - Round 1" (PDF). www.iaaf.org. 4 October 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  12. ^ "World Relay Championships Athletics 2021 - Results Men". www.the-sports.org. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  13. ^ "Athletics - Tokyo 2021 - Results Men". www.the-sports.org. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  14. ^ "Oslo ExxonMobil Bislett Games Athletics 2022 - Results Men". www.the-sports.org. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  15. ^ "Paris-St-Denis Meeting Areva Athletics 2022 - Results Men". www.the-sports.org. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  16. ^ "World Championships de Athletics 2022 - Results Men". www.the-sports.org. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  17. ^ "World Championships de Athletics 2022 - Results Men". www.the-sports.org. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  18. ^ "Athletics - Commonwealth Games 2022 - Results Men". www.the-sports.org. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  19. ^ "Benjamin Azamati finishes 4th in 100m final at the Commonwealth Games". GhanaWeb. 3 August 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  20. ^ "Commonwealth Games: Benjamin Azamati finishes 4th in men's 100m final - MyJoyOnline.com". www.myjoyonline.com. Accra: The Multimedia Group. 3 August 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
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