Benjamin Azamati-Kwaku (born 14 January 1998) is a Ghanaian sprinter, who currently competes for ASICS Global. He made history by breaking a 22-year national record held by Leo Myles Mills on 26 March 2021 in Texas by clocking 9.97 seconds to qualify him for the Tokyo Summer Olympics. Mustafa Ussif, the Sports Minister and Dr Bella Bello Bitugu, the Director of the University of Ghana Sports Directorate, congratulated Benjamin Azamati on the national feat.

Early life and education

Azamati was born on 14 January 1998 to John and Faustina Azamati in

Akim oda Akim Oda is a town in the Eastern Region of south Ghana and is the capital of the Birim Central Municipal District and the traditional capital of Akyem Kotoku. In 2013, Akim Oda had a settlement population of 60,604 people. Geography and clim ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. His preferred sport growing up was

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, but transitioned to

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

while attending Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

where his running talent was discovered by his PE masters (Nathaniel Botchway, Gideon Dukplah and Kofi Dadzie).

Occupation and honors

As a 21-year old he emerged as an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

hopeful for Ghana in the

sprints Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle * Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint ...

after running 100 metres in 10.02 seconds HT at the 2019 Ghana's Fastest Human competition. He won a gold medal in the 4x100m relay at the

2019 African Games The 12th African Games was held from 19 to 31 August 2019 in Rabat, Morocco. This was the first time that the African Games were hosted by Morocco following the country's readmission to the African Union in January 2017. Bidding process The 12th ...

in Rabat. He won the GUSA 100m on two occasions. In 2021, he improved the 100m national record with 9.97 and improved his 200m personal best to 20.13. On 25 March 2022, Azamati improved his own 100m national record to an early world lead of 9.90 seconds in Texas, USA, making him the joint 4th fastest collegiate of all-time with

Trayvon Bromell Trayvon Jaquez Bromell (born July 10, 1995) is an American professional track and field athlete specializing in sprinting events. He was the first junior to break the 10-second barrier in the 100 meters with a time of 9.97 seconds, the former jun ...

. This mark also placed him within the top 50 all-time 100m sprint performances with only 6 Africans running faster in the continent at the time.

Personal bests

Outdoor

* 100 metres - 9.90 (+2.0 m/s, Texas 2022) * 200 metres - 20.13 (+1.1 m/s, Texas 2021)

Indoor

* 60 metres - 6.54 ( Albuquerque 2022) * 200 metres - 20.57 (Texas 2022)

Achievements

International championships

References

External links

* 1998 births Living people Ghanaian male sprinters Place of birth missing (living people) Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 African Games Competitors at the 2019 Summer Universiade Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Ghana Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School alumni African Games competitors for Ghana African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) African Games gold medalists for Ghana Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games {{Ghana-athletics-bio-stub