Ghanaian cyclist Abigail Tetteh has drawn attention to the challenges faced by athletes at the 2023 African Games after expressing her disappointment with the lack of support from authorities in a post-race interview.
Tetteh and three other Ghanaian cyclists were unable to complete the women’s race due to inadequate equipment.
According to Tetteh, the team had to fund their own bicycles and purchased aluminium bikes, which were not as effective as the fibre bikes used by other countries. This disparity in equipment quality may have contributed to the team’s poor performance at the games.
It was tough for us because we used aluminium bikes for the competition while our competitors used fibre-manufactured ones. – Abigail Tetteh#OnuaSports #OnuaTV pic.twitter.com/1FqutGTcLO
— #OnuaTV (@OnuaTV) March 9, 2024
Tetteh’s comments have sparked a discussion about the level of support provided to Ghanaian athletes at the African Games. Some have questioned the millions spent on the event without sufficient resources being allocated to athletes.
It’s worth noting that Tetteh is not the only Ghanaian athlete to have raised concerns about the lack of support from authorities. Leslie Addo, a Ghanaian badminton player, has also spoken out about the challenges faced by athletes at the games.
According to Leslie, the badminton team only had equipment on the opening day which contributed to their struggles at the event.
As the host nation, Ghana has not won any medals so far, with no athletes advancing past the round of 16 in the singles events. Egypt currently leads the medal table with 39 medals, followed by Algeria, South Africa, and Morocco. Other countries, including Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia, Mauritius, Namibia, Botswana, Uganda, and Madagascar, have also secured medals.