Joseph Paul Amoah (born 12 January 1997) is a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

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 conteste ...

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 slightl ...

. He competed at the

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

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

2019 African Games The 12th African Games was 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 January 2017. Bidding process The 12th ...

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 by 0.07 seconds.

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 second most populated region, befor ...

, Ghana, and 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, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, 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), competiti ...

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 (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the ...

where his running talent was discovered. As a 19-year old 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 b ...

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 when enrolling into

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is a public University of Ghana that focuses on science and technology. The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is the public university established in the country, as well a ...

(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 transferred to

Coppin State University Coppin State University (Coppin) is a public historically black university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland and a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. In terms of demographics, the Coppin State stu ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, which competes in Division I of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

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

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

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

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

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 Emmanuel Tuffour's 24-year 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 and the 2022 World Championships for Ghana."Ghana’s team for World Athletics Relay"
''

Ghanaian Times The ''Ghanaian Times'' is a government-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 ...

'' (2021-04-29). Retrieved 2021-05-02. In the final 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. 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)
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/nowiki>".html" ;"title="/nowiki>VIDEO">"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 23rd 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 People from Greater Accra Region World Athletics Championships athletes for Ghana Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 African Games African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Coppin State University alumni Prempeh College alumni African Games gold medalists for Ghana Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Ghana Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Ghana Coppin State Eagles men's track and field athletes Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Ghana Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games