Joseph Paul Amoah (born 12 January 1997) is a Ghanaian sprinter specializing in the 100 metres and the 200 metres. He competed at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in the 100 metres and 4 × 100 metres relay, and at the 2019 African Games, he won a gold medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay.[5][6][7] He was also a 100 metres finalist at the 2019 African Games, finishing fourth.[7]
.jpg) Amoah in 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Joseph Paul Amoah | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 12 January 1997 Greater Accra, Ghana[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 68 kg (150 lb)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Ghana | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 100 m, 200 m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Coppin State Eagles (2017–2021)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Jamie Wilson[4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal bests |
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Medal record
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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 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.[4][8]
Early life
editAmoah was born on 12 January 1997 to Thomas Amoah and Alberta Antwi in Greater Accra, Ghana. Joseph Amoah was raised by his uncle Dr. Victor Antwi from middle school onwards.[4] His preferred sport growing up was football, but transitioned to athletics while attending Prempeh College in Kumasi where his running talent was discovered.[1] As a 19 years old boy, he emerged as an Olympic hopeful for Ghana in the sprints after running 100 metres in 10.08 seconds at the 2016 Ghana's Fastest Human competition.[9]
University
editAfter his prep career at Prempeh College, he decided to quit athletics to enrolling in Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).[4] 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.[4][1] In 2017, he was transferred to Coppin State University in Baltimore, of which he competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the highest level of intercollegiate athletics in the United States.[1][4]
At the year 2019, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championships in May, Joseph Amoah became the first Ghanaian in any sport to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics 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 2019 World Athletics Championships.[10] 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.[4] He broke three-time Olympian Emmanuel Tuffour'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.[8]
2021 World Relays
editAmoah 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 and the 2022 World Championships for Ghana.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13]
Career
editJoseph 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.[10] 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.[11]
Achievements
editInternational championships
edit| Year | Competition | Position | Event | Time | Wind (m/s) | Venue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Commonwealth Games | 15th | 200 m | 20.99 | 0.0 | Gold Coast, Australia | [14] |
| 2019 | African Games | 4th | 100 m | 10.11 | +1.6 | Rabat, Morocco | [7] |
| 1st | 4×100 m relay | 38.30 | — | [7] | |||
| 21st | 200 m | 21.20 | +0.3 | [7] | |||
| World Championships | 34th | 100 m | 10.36 | −0.8 | Doha, Qatar | [5] | |
| 13th | 4×100 m relay | 38.24 | — | [6] | |||
| 2021 | World Relays | 4×100 m relay | — | Chorzów, Poland | Passing outside zone[12] | ||
| 2022 | Commonwealth Games | 3rd | 200 m | 20.49 | Birmingham, United Kingdom | [15][16] | |
| 2023 | World Championships | 27th (h) | 200 m | 20.56 | Budapest, Hungary | ||
| 2024 | African Games | 1st | 200 m | 20.70 | −2.8 | Accra, Ghana | |
| 2nd | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.43 | |||||
| Olympic Games | 13th (h) | 4 × 100 m relay | DQ | Paris, France |
National championships
edit| Year | Competition | Position | Event | Time | Wind (m/s) | Venue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | NCAA Division I Championships | 13th | 200 m | 20.60 | +1.1 | Eugene, United States | |
| 2019 | NCAA Division I Championships | 8th | 100 m | 10.22 | +0.8 | Austin, United States | |
| 6th | 200 m | 20.19 | +0.8 | ||||
| 14th | 4×100 m relay | 39.30 | — | ||||
| 2021 | NCAA Division I Championships | 15th | 4×100 m relay | 39.51 | — | Eugene, United States | |
| 9th | 100 m | 10.21 | +0.9 | ||||
| 10th | 200 m | 20.51 | +1.4 |
- NCAA results from Track & Field Results Reporting System profile.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Watta, Evelyn (2019-08-29). "Joseph Amoah: The Ghanaian sprint hope with big dreams". Olympic Channel. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
- ^ a b "JOSEPH AMOAH". Coppin State Eagles. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
- ^ a b "JOSEPH AMOAH COPPIN STATE". TFRRS. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
- ^ a b c d e f g Lee, Edward (2019-07-05). "Coppin State's Joseph Amoah emerges as world-class sprinter, eyes representing Ghana at 2020 Olympics". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
- ^ a b "100 Metres Men - Round 1" (PDF). IAAF. 2019-10-06. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
- ^ a b "4 x 100 Metres Relay Men - Round 1" (PDF). IAAF. 2019-10-04. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
- ^ a b c d e "Results" (PDF). Atos. 2019-08-29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-09-01.
- ^ a b Tahiru, Fentuo (2019-06-06). "Ghana Athletics: Joseph Amoah breaks 24-year old National Record in 200m". Citi Sports Online. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
- ^ Malonga, Edwy (2016-10-05). "Joseph Paul Amoah, bientôt dans la cour des grands ?". LCI. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
- ^ a b "Joseph Amoah becomes first Ghanaian to qualify for 2020 Olympic Games". Joy Online. 2019-05-06. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
- ^ a b "Ghana’s team for World Athletics Relay". Ghanaian Times (2021-04-29). Retrieved 2021-05-02.
- ^ a b "World Relays: Ghana disqualified in final despite finishing 3rd". Citi Sports via ModernGhana (2021-05-02). Retrieved 2021-05-02.
- ^ Tahiru, Fentuo (2019-05-01). "World Relays: Ghana men’s 4x100m Relay team qualify for Tokyo Olympics [VIDEO]". Citi Sports. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
- ^ "Athletics Official Results" (PDF). Commonwealth Games. 2018-04-11. p. 14. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
- ^ "Ghana's Joseph Paul Amoah wins bronze in the 200m at the 2022 Commonwealth Games". GhanaWeb. 6 August 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
- ^ Emmanuel, Kojo (7 August 2022). "2022 Commonwealth Games: Joseph Paul Amoah wins bronze for Ghana in men's 200m". Pulse Ghana. Accra. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
External links
edit- Joseph Amoah at World Athletics
- Joseph Amoah profile at TFRRS (Track & Field Results Reporting System)
