Teams from across Africa are arriving in Accra as final preparations continue for the 24th African Senior Athletics Championships. The competition will begin on Tuesday, 13 May, at the University of Ghana Sports Stadium in Legon and will run for six days until Sunday.
More than 1,000 athletes and officials are expected to take part, representing countries under the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA). The event will feature 44 track and field competitions. For Ghana, this is a special moment, as the country is hosting the championships for only the second time in history and for the first time in over 40 years.
World Athletics Presence
The build-up to the championship has been marked by a high-level gathering of athletics administrators. A CAA Council meeting convened in Accra ahead of the competition, drawing the attendance of World Athletics President Lord Sebastian Coe, who touched down in Ghana on Saturday.
Lord Coe is scheduled to hold engagements with President John Dramani Mahama and Sports and Recreation Minister Kofi Adams, a series of meetings that affirms the diplomatic and sporting significance of the occasion.
The competition will feature some of Africa’s biggest athletics stars. Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan, the world record holder in the women’s 100m hurdles, is confirmed to compete. Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, the Olympic 200m champion, will also take part. Kenya will have top distance runners Faith Kipyegon and Beatrice Chebet, while Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga will also add strong competition to the event.
Ghana’s own contingent is expected to mount a credible challenge across multiple disciplines. Rose Amoanimaa Yeboah, Joseph Paul Amoah, and Benjamin Azamati are Ghana standard-bearers, alongside the men’s 4×100 metres relay team, who have already secured their berths at the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing, a result that reflects the growing depth of Ghana’s sprinting.
On the operational front, organisers have installed supplementary World Athletics-certified electronic timing infrastructure to guarantee the accuracy and integrity of results. A technical briefing for all participating delegations is scheduled for Monday, providing teams with final procedural guidance ahead of Tuesday’s opening events.
Countries that have already registered their arrival in Accra include Botswana, Nigeria, Uganda, Senegal, Eswatini, Djibouti, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Seychelles, and São Tomé and Príncipe, with further delegations expected throughout Monday as the gathering takes full shape.