Ghana’s men’s 4x100m relay team booked their spot in the finals of the men’s 4x100m relays with a blistering run in their heat that secured the quartet a new national record in the event.
The quartet of Sean Safo-Antwi, Benjamin Azamati, Emmanuel Yeboah and Joseph Paul Amoah, finished 5th in a very fast heat with a time of 38.08s.
But despite their 5th place finish, their time was fast enough to secure them a place in Friday’s final.
The Olympic debutants slashed 0.04s off the previous record which stood at 38.12s, set at the 1997 World Championships in Greece by the quartet of Abu Duah, Eric Nkansah, Aziz Zakari and Emmanuel Tuffour.
Safo-Antwi got off the blocks quickly before Azamati’s blistering run on the back straight set up Emmanuel Yeboah for a smooth bend.
When he handed off to Joseph Paul Amoah, Ghana looked in the mix of a very competitive field that included the United States, Canada, China and Italy but the Coppin State University student held on to finish ahead of the Americans who were fast closing in on him.
China won Heat 2; Italy, with the individual 100m champion Marcell Jacobs finished 2nd; and 200m champion Andre De Grasse powered Canada to a 3rd place finish to secure the automatic places.
Germany, who finished 4th, also booked their ticket along with 5th placed Ghana.
The men’s 4x100m final is slated for 13:50GMT on Friday.
