Benjamin Azamati-Kwaku (born 14 January 1998) is a Ghanaian sprinter, who currently competes for On running.
He made history by breaking a 22-year national record held by Leo Myles Mills on 26 March 2021 in Texas by clocking 9.97 seconds to qualify him for the Tokyo Summer Olympics.
Mustafa Ussif, the Sports Minister and Dr Bella Bello Bitugu, the Director of the University of Ghana Sports Directorate, congratulated Benjamin Azamati on the national feat.
Early life and education
Azamati was born on 14 January 1998 to John and Faustina Azamati in Akim Oda, Ghana.
His preferred sport growing up was football, but transitioned to athletics while attending Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School in Accra where his running talent was discovered by his PE masters (Nathaniel Botchway, Gideon Dukplah and Kofi Dadzie).
Occupation and honors As a 21-year old, he emerged as an Olympic hopeful for Ghana in the sprints after running 100 metres in 10.02 seconds HT at the 2019 Ghana's Fastest Human competition. He won a gold medal in the 4x100m relay at the 2019 African Games in Rabat. He won the GUSA 100m on two occasions.
In 2021, he improved the 100m national record with 9.97 and improved his 200m personal best to 20.13.
On 25 March 2022, Azamati improved his own 100m national record to an early world lead of 9.90 seconds in Texas, USA, making him the joint 4th fastest collegiate of all-time with Trayvon Bromell. This mark also placed him within the top 50 all-time 100m sprint performances with only 6 Africans running faster in the continent at the time.
Career statistics Personal bests Surface Distance Time (s) W (m/s) Date Location NotesOutdoor100 metres9.9+2.025 March 2022Austin, United States200 metres20.13+1.18 May 2021Canyon, United States20.13+1.49 April 2022Canyon, United States38.075 May 2024Nassau, The BahamasIndoor60 metres6.545 February 2022Albuquerque, United States200 metres20.572022Texas, United States
International championships +Representing Year Competition Position Event Time Wind (m/s) Venue Notes2019 African Games 9th (SF) 100 m 10.43 -0.6Rabat, Morocco 1st 4 × 100 m relay 38.30 World Championships 13th (h) 4 x 100 m relay 38.24 Doha, Qatar 2021 World Relay Championships 4 x 100 m relay — Chorzów, Poland 2020 Summer Olympics 4 x 100 m relay — Tokyo 2022 Oslo ExxonMobil Bislett Games 4th 100m 10.15 Oslo Paris-St-Denis Meeting Areva 8th 200m 20.77 Paris 2022 World Athletics Championships 29th (h) 100 m 10.18 Eugene 5th (F) 4 x 100 m relay 38.07 Commonwealth Games 4th (F) 100 m 10.16 Birmingham 4 × 100 m relay 20242023 African Games 5th (F) 100 m 10.45 -0.8Accra, Ghana 2nd 4 × 100 m relay 38.43 2024 World Athletics Relays 2nd (rep) 4 × 100 m relay 38.29 Nassau, The Bahamas 2024 Summer Olympics 25th (SF) 100 m 10.17 +0.7Paris, France 4 × 100 m relay 2025 2025 World Athletics Championships 34th (h) 100 m 10.30 -1.2 Tokyo, Japan
References
External links
Benjamin Azamati at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics (archived) Benjamin Azamati-Kwaku at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics (archived)