Benjamin Azamati attributes second-place finish to unfavourable Ghanaian weather

Ghanaian sprinter Benjamin Azamati has attributed his second-place finish in the Men’s 100m semi-final of the 2023 African Games to the weather conditions in Ghana.

Azamati secured his spot in the final after clocking a time of 10.41s, coming in behind Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme, who finished first with a time of 10.23s.

Despite advancing to the final, Azamati expressed dissatisfaction with his performance, citing his recent arrival in the country as a contributing factor.

Addressing the media after the race, Azamati, who is based in the US, revealed that he had only been in Ghana for a week, whereas he ideally needed two weeks to acclimatize to the weather conditions.

“Having been there since only on Monday, at least I needed about two weeks to get used to the weather out here. So I think that was the problem. I got really tired when I was warming up, so I decided to just run the heat and just qualify.”

Benjamin Azamati admits he didn't have the perfect semi-final race earlier on Monday ????????

He finished second in his race, booking a place in the final for tomorrow#3SportsGH #Accra2023 pic.twitter.com/tUHaJtRa4f

— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) March 19, 2024

While acknowledging his shortcomings in execution, Azamati revealed that he struggled with a physical issue as well.

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“Not the perfect race for me. I feel like I didn’t execute well, but I will go sit with my coach and talk about it. I had a little bit of a tight hip flexer. I think I’ll go back and see the physio to work on that and see how we can do tomorrow.

Despite the setbacks, Azamati remains determined to bounce back in the final, scheduled to take place today, March 19, 2024, at the University of Ghana Sports Stadium at 17:20 GMT.

The post Benjamin Azamati attributes second-place finish to unfavourable Ghanaian weather first appeared on 3News.

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