Kaya Adwoa Forson will become the first Ghanaian swimmer to compete at the Olympics when she takes to the pool at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro today at 4.00pm (Ghana time).
The 14-year-old will also be the first Ghanaian athlete among the nation’s 16-member contingent to compete at the Games.
She will start in lane 1 of Heat 1 of the women’s 200 metres freestyle. The teenage prodigy will be up against India’s Shivani Kataria and Fiji’s Matelita Buadramo. Born in Malaga, Spain, Kaya was handed a universality place at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games by world swimming governing body, FINA, after competing at the World Championships in Kazan, Russia in 2015.
She was named as the youngest athlete at the championship and recently competed in FINA’s 12th Luxembourg International Swimming Open in preparation for the Rio Olympics.
Tomorrow, Hungarian born Ghanaian, Szandra Szogedi will compete in the 63kg category of the women’s Judo competition while, boxer Abdul Wahid Omar will compete on Wednesday in the bantamweight division.
