The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Saturday closed the three-week 13th African Games, Accra 2023 at the University of Ghana Sports Stadium, calling on stakeholders to use the sports platform to create a prosperous Ghana for all.
Delivering the keynote address to bring down the curtain on the event which was attended by high profile sports figures across Africa, President Akufo Addo said: “Together, we can harness the power of sport to build a stronger, healthier and more prosperous Ghana for generations to come.”
The 13th edition marks Ghana’s most successful entry since the Games began in 1965, surpassing the previous best of 27 medals won during the 1973 Games in Lagos, Nigeria.
Ghana won a total of 68 medals out of 19 gold, 29 silver and 20 bronze.
They came from nine disciplines, including the breaststroke, which recorded eight gold, 19 silver and 14 bronze, for a total of 41 medals. boxing with four gold, one silver and two bronze to make seven medals in total; Athletics had three golds, two silvers and one bronze, for a total of six medals, while football had two golds won by the Black Satellites and Black Princesses.
In weightlifting, all three medals – one gold and two silver medals were won by Winnifred Ntumi. Hockey grabbed one gold and one silver each. Taekwondo recorded two silver and one bronze. swimming had a silver and a bronze and volleyball grabbed a bronze medal.
Boxing restored its pride with Samuel Takyi, Ghana’s only Olympian in Tokyo, Joseph Commey, a recent Commonwealth Games medalist, Mohammed Aryeetey at bantamweight 48kg and Amadu Mohammed at bantamweight 54kg moved up to podium for their medals.
One area that attracted the biggest crowds and attention and was rewarded for its resilience was sports.
Again, Ghana made history by hosting the largest number of sports since the Games began and finished sixth out of 53 participating countries, a significant improvement from their 15th place finish at the 2019 Rabat edition, where the team returned with 13 medals.
Similarly, the 2023 Accra Games hosted three more disciplines than the Rabat event of 26. Until the Rabat event, host countries had an average of 20 disciplines.
According to the President, as the nation basked in the glory of success, it was important for stakeholders to reaffirm their commitment to promoting sports as a tool for national development and unity.
He said hosting the Games left Ghana with state-of-the-art sports facilities that make Ghana a destination for international sports activities and urged heads of sports federations to take advantage of the facilities to develop their disciplines.
The just concluded edition brought together 5,000 elite athletes and coaches from 54 African countries across 29 multi-sport disciplines.
Some of the events that took place in two cities. Accra and Cape Coast were used as official qualifiers for the XXXIII Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Olympic qualifiers include athletics, swimming, cycling, badminton, wrestling, tennis, table tennis and triathlon.
The Saturday ceremony was also attended by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Mustapha Ussif, African Union President, Moussa Faki, Ambassador Samate, Dr Kweku Ofosu, LOC President, among others.
It was peppered with musical performances from Wiyaala and Stonebwoy from Ghana, Cameroonian rapper, Stanley Enow and Congolese musician, Innoss B.