Joseph Oduro Manu and Paul Amoah, all products of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), played a a great part in helping Ghana qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games in the men’s 4x100m after team Ghana finished 2nd in the heats behind Netherlands at the world athletics relay event in Silesia, Poland.
Ministry of Youth and Sports posted on their twitter page to congratulate them.
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.
He was also a 100 metres finalist at the 2019 African Games, finishing fourth.
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.
After his prep career at Prempeh College, he decided to quit athletics when enrolling into Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
