Sports in Ghana

Ghana is a country with a rich heritage in sports. Ghana has made great strides towards becoming the preeminent African nation in many sporting disciplines. Popular sporting events in the country include boxing, tennis, basketball, hockey, cricket, rugby, golf, and athletics[1]

Sports

Olympic sport in Ghana began when Ghana first competed as Gold Coast in the Winter Olympics in 2010 for the first time. Ghana qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics with a score of 137.5 International Ski Federation points, within the qualifying range of 120-140 points.[2] Ghanaian skier, Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, nicknamed "The Snow Leopard", became the first Ghanaian to take part in the Winter Olympics, at the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, Canada,[3] taking part in the slalom skiing.[4]

Ghana finished 47th out of 102 participating nations, of whom 54 finished in the Alpine skiing slalom.[5][6] Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong broke on the international skiing circuit, being the second black African skier to do so.[7]

Ghanaian athletes have won a total of four Olympics medals in thirteen appearances at the Summer Olympics, three in boxing, and a bronze medal in association football, and thus became the first country on the Africa continent to win a medal at association football.[8]

The country has also produced several world-class boxers, including Azumah Nelson a three-time world champion, Nana Yaw Konadu also a three-time world champion, Ike Quartey, and Joshua Clottey.

Association football is administered by the Ghana Football Association and the national men's football team is known as the Black Stars, with the under-20 team known as the Black Satellites. Ghana has participated in many championships, including the African Cup of Nations with 4 titles, the FIFA World Cup twice and the FIFA U-20 World Cup with 1 title. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Ghana became the third African country to reach the quarter-final stage of the World Cup after Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002.[9] Ghana national U-20 football team, known as the Black Satellites, is considered to be the feeder team for the Ghana national football team. Ghana is the first and only country on the Africa continent to be crowned FIFA U-20 World Cup Champions and two-time runner up in 1993 and 2001. The Ghana national U-17 football team, known as the Black Starlets, are two-time FIFA U-17 World Cup champions in 1991 and 1995, two-time runners up in 1993 and 1997.

Ghanaian football teams Asante Kotoko SC and Accra Hearts of Oak SC are the 5th and 9th best football teams on the Africa continent and have won a total of five Africa continental association football and Confederation of African Football trophies; Ghanaian football club Asante Kotoko SC has been crowned two-time CAF Champions League winners in 1970, 1983 and five-time CAF Champions League runners up, and Ghanaian football club Accra Hearts of Oak SC has been crowned 2000 CAF Champions League winner and two-time CAF Champions League runners up, 2001 CAF Super Cup champions and 2004 CAF Confederation Cup champions.[10] The International Federation of Football History and Statistics crowned Asante Kotoko SC as the African club of the 20th century.[10] There are several club football teams in Ghana that play in the Ghana Premier League and Division One League, both administered by the Ghana Football Association.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Sports in Ghana. a.com.
  2. ↑ "Base Camp Sponsored Ghanaian skier Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong has qualified for 2010 Olympics". 0-21 Snowboarding. 13 March 2009. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  3. ↑ Dutta, Kunal (22 October 2009). "Forget Eric the Eel... meet the Snow Leopard". The Independent. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, Alpine Skiing". Vancouver, 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  5. ↑ Men's Slalom - Run 2, Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games official website. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  6. ↑ "Men's Slalom". Vancouver, 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  7. ↑ Chris Wilson (3 February 2010). "Ghana’s first winter Olympian gears up for Vancouver Games". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  8. ↑ "Ghana clinging to Olympic dream". BBC News. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  9. ↑ "USA 1–2 Ghana (aet)". NEWS.BBC.co.uk. 26 June 2009. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Africa's club of the Century". IFFHS official website. Retrieved 21 July 2013.

External links