Team Ghana have arrived in China ahead of the World Athletics Relays, set to take place from May 10–11, 2025, in Guangzhou. The team will compete in the men’s 4×100m relay as they aim to qualify for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo this September 2025.
Despite the notable absence of star sprinter and national record holder Benjamin Azamati, Ghana’s squad is brimming with confidence.
Azamati, who shattered Ghana’s 22-year-old 100m record with a 9.90s sprint in 2022 and played a crucial role in the team that qualified for the 2025 World Relays at the Paris Olympics, has opted to skip the Guangzhou event to focus on his preparations for the World Championships.
In Azamati’s place, Barnabas Aggerh, a member of Ghana’s 2023 African Games squad, joins the team. He will line up alongside Joseph Paul Amoah, Ibrahim Fuseini, Sean Safo-Antwi, and Mustapha Bokpin.
Ghana will face tough competition in Guangzhou, where the top 14 teams in each event will secure automatic qualification for the Tokyo World Championships.
While Ghana’s focus is on the 4×100m, much of the spotlight this year will also be on the men’s 4×400m, where heavyweights like the USA and Botswana are poised for a blockbuster rematch.
At last year’s World Relays, the USA suffered a shock disqualification in the heats but bounced back in style to narrowly beat Botswana to Olympic gold in Paris.
In a race that produced the second- and third-fastest times in history, 2:54.43 (USA) and 2:54.53 (Botswana), both nations just missed the long-standing world record of 2:54.29.
This year’s US squad won’t include their Olympic-winning quartet of Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon, and Rai Benjamin, but the team’s depth remains a strength.
Justin Robinson and Elija Godwin, both World Championship gold medallists, headline the American roster looking to defend their global dominance.
Botswana, meanwhile, returns with Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo, whose stunning 43.04 anchor leg in Paris marked one of the fastest splits ever recorded.
They’re joined by a resurgent South African team featuring world record-holder Wayde van Niekerk, alongside medal hopefuls from Belgium, Great Britain, Jamaica, and host nation China.
Watch the video below:
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