Ghana secured nine medals in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) on Tuesday night in the ongoing 2023 African Games.
The impressive medal scoop included one gold, three silver and five bronze. This achievement was expected to catapult Ghana up the ranking on the overall medal table but Ghana still has only five as captured in the official standings as of Wednesday morning, March 13, 2024.
This is because MMA is captured under demonstration sport in the ongoing African Games implying that medals won in such discipline won’t contribute to the overall standing of countries.
What is a demonstration sport?
A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a form of athletic activity played to promote the sport rather than for standard medal competition.
This was first introduced in the 1924 Summer Olympics, with some scholars suggesting unofficial sports before 1924 also served as demonstrations. Organizing committees typically included at least one demonstration sport at each edition of the Games, often reflecting a popular or typical sport in the host country. Examples include baseball at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and taekwondo at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. Only two Summer Olympics Games from 1924 to 1992 did not feature demonstration sports.
Some of these sports later gain enough popularity to become official events in subsequent editions. Traditionally, the medals awarded for demonstration events share the same design as Olympic medals but are smaller and are not included in the official medal count.
A similar sport Sambo is the second sport also described as a demonstration discipline in the 2023 African Games. These two disciplines won’t guarantee a surge on the medal table should anyone win a medal from that.
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While this may appear as a disappointment to Ghana which has evidently struggled in various disciplines, the medal scoop marks some improvement in their performances as athletes get closer to winning medals in other Games.
1 gold 🥇
3 silver 🥈
5 bronze 🥉Ghana dominated in the MMA last night, but the medals will not reflect in the medal table as it is a demonstration sport.#3SportsGH pic.twitter.com/BE2HasrmKC
— #3Sports (@3SportsGh) March 13, 2024
The Back Princesses have made it to the semi-finals of the women’s football competition bringing them a step closer to a medal while the Black Satellites also secured a convincing 3-1 win over Gambia on Tuesday to draw closer to qualification.
Meanwhile, Ghana has previously secured five medals impressively thanks to the heroics of weightlifter Winnifred Ntumi who won one gold and two silver to record the nation’s first three medals at the Games. Ghana’s Swimming team captain Abeiku Jackson also made history by securing silver and bronze in the Men’s Butterfly to add to Ghana’s tally.
Ghana won 13 medals in the previous edition in 2019 when Morocco hosted and are optimistic to surpass that number and finish above the initial 15th position five years ago.