Blessing Akwasi Afrifah (; born 26 October 2003) is an Israeli

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who specializes in the sprints. He was the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

champion at both the

2022 World Athletics U20 Championships The 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships, also known colloquially by its former official title, the World Junior Championships, was an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors (born no earlier than 1 January 2003 ...

, and at the

2023 European Athletics U23 Championships The 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships were the 14th edition of the biennial athletics competition between European athletes under the age of twenty three. The event was organized by European Athletics Association and held from 13–16 Ju ...

. Afrifah represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the men's 200 metres, and finished 16th.

Early life

Afrifah was born and raised in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, Israel, and later moved with his family to

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...

, Israel. His parents are of

Akan Akan may refer to: People and languages *Akan people, an ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire *Akan languages, a language group within the wider Central Tano languages *Kwa languages, a language group which includes Akan *Central Tano language ...

ethnicity, from

Kumasi Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, and moved to Israel a decade before he was born.Hillel Kuttler (5 December 2022)
"Blessing Afrifa; Israel’s Usain Bolt takes aim at the 2024 Olympics in Paris,"
''Tablet''. His father and his mother initially came to Israel separately as tourists in the mid-1990s. They remained -- with his father working in the consular division of Ghana’s embassy, and his mother working as a cleaning lady. Grateful to Israel, they pledged that they would have a son named Blessing and a daughter named Mercy. His younger sister Mercy is also a sprinter. As a child and teenager, Afrifah studied at

Ohel Shem Ohel Shem () is an Israeli secular high school located in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. It has about 1,550 students studying in 45 classes, from ninth to twelfth grade, and about 160 teachers and 40 staff. The campus contains, ...

high school in Ramat Gan, Israel. He briefly played

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, then turned 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), competitio ...

at the age of 11. He speaks fluent Hebrew and English. He is 5 ft 11 in (180 cm), and weighs 165 pounds (75 kg).

Running career

Early years; Israeli championships

At the age of 14, Afrifah began working with national coach Igor Balon. Afrifah's club is

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

. Afrifah won the Israeli Championship in the 100m in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, with his best time being a 10.23 in 2023. He won the Israeli Championship in the 200m in 2020-24, with his best time being a 20.63 in 2023 in Jerusalem.

2022; World U20 Champion

At the

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

, Colombia, at 18 years of age Afrifah won the 200 m in a photo finish with a championship record time of 19.954, 0.006 seconds ahead of Botswanan

Letsile Tebogo Letsile Tebogo (; born 7 June 2003) is a Botswana sprinter. He won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the 200 metres event, with his win earning the first-ever Olympic gold medal for Botswana. He also won the silver medal at th ...

. Afrifah, who then draped the Israeli flag across his body, was the first Israeli to run the 200 metres race in under 20 seconds. In recorded competitions, only two humans under age 20 had run a faster 200 meters, one being Jamaican sprinter

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt (; born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, ...

, who later won the event three times in the Olympics and four times in the world championships.

2023-present; European U23 Champion

Next year, at the

Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...

, Finland, Afrifah won the 200 m with a time of 20.67, just 0.01 second ahead of Dutch

Raphael Bouju Raphael Bouju (born 15 May 2002) is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes as a sprinter. A successful junior, he has won senior national Dutch titles over 60m and 100m. Early life Born in the Netherlands, Bouju moved to England with hi ...

. His personal best at the 100m is 10.20 in 2023 and 2024, and at the 200 m is 19.96 in 2022. His highest European ranking in the 200m was 4th. Afrifah said: "I feel I'm standing for a community. Israel is a country that omecountries hate, so it's an honor to represent them. I want to prove nti-Israel slanderis not true and Israel is different, and I'm proving it through sports."

2024 Paris Olympics

Afrifah represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the men's 200 metres at the

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

. He attended a ceremony at the Paris Olympics that was held to remember the 11 Israeli Olympicans killed in the Munich Massacre at the

1972 Munich Olympic Games The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

. At 20 years of age, he ran a 20.78 and came in 5th in his first round qualification heat, and he ran a 20.88 in the last chance

repechage Repechage ( , ; , ) is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well-known example is the wild card system. Types Different type ...

round, finishing 16th and not making it to the semifinals.

Personal life

In 2010, Afrifah was granted permanent residence status, along with his sister and parents, following a government decision to not deport children of foreign workers born in Israel. At the age of 16, he was granted Israeli citizenship after he appealed to Israel's Minister of the Interior

Aryeh Deri Aryeh Makhlouf Deri (; ), also Arie Deri, Arye Deri, or Arieh Deri (born 17 February 1959), is an Israeli politician and one of the founders of the Shas political party who served as the Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Health, and Minister ...

. When asked about his feelings upon receiving his Israeli identity document, Afrifah replied: "I'm an Israeli. I was born here, my friends are here.... I'm no different from my friends, which are residents of Israel. I want to represent Israel and win medals." He was given full citizenship in 2020, and said: "I can't describe how excited I am; I couldn't even eat due to my excitement. I have more confidence and motivation to win achievements for Israel." As an Israeli citizen and thus conscripted by law upon reaching 18 years of age, Afrifah served in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

beginning in 2022. He served on an army base in

Rehovot Rehovot (, / ) is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu (movement), Bilu movement, proposed the name "Rehovot ...

, in a program limited to elite sportspeople that provides a more flexible service.

Career statistics

Figures from

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

profile.

Personal bests

International championships

100m progression

200m progression

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Afrifah, Blessing 2003 births Living people 21st-century Israeli military personnel 21st-century Israeli sportsmen Athletes (track and field) at the 2023 European Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics European Games competitors for Israel Israeli male sprinters Israeli people of Ghanaian descent Sportspeople from Ramat Gan Sportspeople from Tel Aviv World Athletics U20 Championships winners Olympic athletes for Israel