Joseph Paul Amoah (born 12 January 1997) is a

Ghanaian The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of ...

sprinter specializing in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

and 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 ...

. He competed at the

2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global sport of athletics, athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athleti ...

in the 100 metres and 4 × 100 metres relay, and at the

2019 African Games The 12th African Games (), also known as Rabat 2019 (), were 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 Janua ...

, he won a gold medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay. He was also a 100 metres finalist at the 2019 African Games, finishing fourth. Amoah has personal best times of 9.94 seconds and 20.08 seconds in the 100 metres and 200 metres respectively. His personal best performance in the 200 metres broke the Ghanaian record previously held by three-time Olympian

Emmanuel Tuffour Emmanuel Tuffour (born December 2, 1966) is a retired Ghanaian sprinter. His best performance in a global event was a seventh place at the 1993 World Championships, but at the 1992 Olympics he failed to qualify for the final by 0.01 second. Tuffo ...

by 0.07 seconds. He is currently the Africa Games champion for the 200 meters race. He won this with a time of 20.70.

Early life

Amoah was born on 12 January 1997 to Thomas Amoah and Alberta Antwi in

Greater Accra The Greater Accra Region has the smallest area of Ghana's 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of 3,245 square kilometres. This is 1.4 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the most populated region, with a popul ...

, Ghana. Joseph Amoah was raised by his uncle Dr. Victor Antwi from middle school onwards. His preferred sport growing up was

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, 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), competitio ...

while attending

Prempeh College Prempeh College is a public secondary boarding school for boys located in Kumasi, the capital city of the Ashanti Region, Ghana. The school was founded in 1949 by the Asanteman traditional authority, the British Colonial Government, the Metho ...

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 ...

where his running talent was discovered. As a 19 years old boy, 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 bet ...

hopeful for Ghana in the sprints after running 100 metres in 10.08 seconds at the 2016 Ghana's Fastest Human competition.

University

After his prep career at Prempeh College, he decided to quit athletics to enrolling in

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), commonly known as UST, Tech or Kwame Tech, is a public university located in Kumasi, Ashanti region, Ghana. The university focuses on science and technology. It is the second public uni ...

(KNUST). However the head coach of athletics at KNUST had heard of Amoah's talent while at Prempeh college and convinced Amoah to join the team with the help of his uncle. In 2017, he was transferred to

Coppin State University Coppin State University (Coppin) is a public historically black university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is part of the University System of Maryland and a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. History Coppin State Univer ...

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, of which he competes in Division I of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA), the highest level of intercollegiate athletics in the United States. At the year 2019,

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC ) is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and the Mid-A ...

Championships in May, Joseph Amoah became the first Ghanaian in any sport to

qualify Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

by running 200 metres in a personal best time in 20.20 seconds. It was the fastest performance from a Ghanaian since 1995 and also qualified him for the

. Later in June of that season at the NCAA Division I Championships, he improved his personal best times in the 100 metres and 200 metres to 10.01 seconds and 20.08 seconds respectively. He broke three-time Olympian

's 24 years old Ghanaian record in the 200 metres (20.15 seconds, set at altitude) and qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 100 metres.

2021 World Relays

Amoah was selected to represent Ghana at the 2021 World Relays on 1–2 May in Poland, which served as a qualifier for the

2021 Olympic Games The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and the 2022 World Championships for Ghana."Ghana’s team for World Athletics Relay"
''

Ghanaian Times The ''Ghanaian Times'' is a state-owned daily newspaper published in Accra, Ghana. The newspaper was established in 1957. It has a circulation of 80,000 copies and is published six times per week. History The newspaper was formerly known as the G ...

'' (2021-04-29). Retrieved 2021-05-02. In the finals, Joseph Amoah anchored Ghana to bronze with a time of 39.11 seconds, but the team was disqualified after footage review showed Amoah receiving the baton beyond the passing zone from teammate

Joseph Oduro Manu Joseph Oduro Manu (born 26 July 1996) is a Ghanaian sprinter, who currently competes at Coppin State University in Baltimore, MD. Manu was selected to represent Ghana at the 2021 World Relays on 1–2 May in Poland, which served as a qualifier fo ...

. However, because they qualified for the final with a time of 38.79 seconds in the semi-finals, Ghana with Amoah still qualified to compete at the Olympic Games.Tahiru, Fentuo (2019-05-01)
"World Relays: Ghana men’s 4x100m Relay team qualify for Tokyo Olympics [VIDEO
/nowiki>"">/nowiki>VIDEO">"World Relays: Ghana men’s 4x100m Relay team qualify for Tokyo Olympics [VIDEO
/nowiki>" ''Citi Sports''. Retrieved 2021-05-02.

Career

Joseph Paul ran under 10 seconds for the first time on April 23, 2022 with a time of 9.94 seconds, making him the 4th Ghanaian to run the event under 10 seconds. The time also marked the first time in Ghana's history where two of their athletes made the top 2 in the world for the 100m.

Achievements

International championships

National championships

*NCAA results from Track & Field Results Reporting System profile.

References

External links

* * (Track & Field Results Reporting System) {{DEFAULTSORT:Amoah, Joseph Ghanaian male sprinters 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Greater Accra Region World Athletics Championships athletes for Ghana Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 African Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2023 African Games African Games gold medalists for Ghana African Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) African Games silver medalists for Ghana African Games silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Coppin State University alumni Prempeh College alumni Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Ghana Coppin State Eagles men's track and field athletes Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Ghana Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Ghanaian sportsmen Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics