Former Ghanaian sprinter Leo Myles-Mills has expressed confidence in Ghana’s relay team at the ongoing Budapest World Athletics Championships.
With the men’s 200m heats set for tomorrow, Myles-Mills shed light on the challenges and expectations facing Ghana’s athletes on the global stage.
Ghana’s rising star, Joseph Paul Amoah, is set to showcase his potentials in Heat 6 of the men’s 200m, scheduled for Wednesday, August 23, 2023.
His competitors include the American sensation Erriyon Knighton and the Tokyo Olympic Games gold medalist, Andre DeGrasse of Canada. Amoah, a former national record holder in the event, boasts a Personal Best time of 20.08s.
Myles-Mills in an interview on Wamputu Sports with Joe Debrah noted that Amoah would need to deliver a performance close to his personal best to secure his advancement from this heat.
Interestingly, Amoah’s teammate, James Dadzie, made headlines earlier this year by snatching Amoah’s national record. Dadzie faces a relatively less daunting challenge in his heat, with only one athlete managing to break the 20-second barrier in the 200m event this season.
While Dadzie has the fastest time of the season in his heats, his journey has been marred by injuries, and he has been absent from competition since July 17, 2023.
Myles-Mills provided an optimistic perspective, highlighting the competition’s landscape. Among Amoah’s heat competitors, only Erriyon Knighton, ranked second globally, has achieved a sub-20s run in the 200m this season. Amoah’s season’s best time stands at 20.43s, setting the stage for an exciting clash.
Myles-Mills, who was Ghana’s 100m record holder between 1999 and 2021 with a personal best of 9.98s, was the first Ghanaian to break the 10-seconds barrier.
He won gold at the 1999 All-Africa Games, silver in 2003 and bronze at the 1998 African Championships.
By: Ahashie Judeliver Eli