Ghana at the Olympics
Ghana's national Olympic Committee was established in 1951 and was internationally recognized the following year just in time for them to participate in the Summer Games for the first time, which was held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. Ghana first competed as Gold Coast (a British Colony). They sent a seven-athlete contingent but were not able to take home an Olympic medal.
They missed the 1956 and reconfigured their training and in 1960 Ghana competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, for the first time as an independent nation. They also wre able to win their first Olympic medal. Boxer Clement Quartey became Ghana's first Olympic medalist when he lost to Bohumil Němeček in the finals for the men's light welterweight division awarding him the silver medal.
Quartey will not be the last Olympic medalist from Ghana. The next year, another boxer, Eddie Blay won the bronze for the same weight division as Quartey. Boxers are Ghana's best Olympians so far producing most of their Olympic medals. They are, however, yet to win their first Olympic gold.
Ghana has also tried their hand in the Winter Games. In 2010, they sent their first-ever Winter Olympian Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong for Alpine skiing. He did manage to finish and rank 47th overall.
Trivia
Ghana has won four Olympic medals at the Olympics (before 2016):
- A silver in boxing in 1960
- Bronze in boxing in 1964 and 1972
- A bronze in men's football in 1992
Related Pages
- Ghana at the Winter Olympics
- List of all countries that have participated at the Olympic Games.
- About sport in Ghana
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