Team Ghana is returning home in batches after competing at the 23rd Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland and placing 30th on the medals table.
The first batch including boxing bronze medalist Amadu Mohammed have arrived.
Para athlete, Zinabu Issah won silver in shot putt while Amadu Mohommed got a bronze in boxing to become the most outstanding athlete at the Games..
Ghana presented 40 athletes to take part in athletics, boxing, cycling, judo, swimming, weightlifting and para sports.
The media is not informed on the number of officials who accompanied the team, however with boxing they had four coaches plus the president of the Ghana Boxing Federation (GBA) represented.
Boxing has always been on the podium for Ghana, but it seems this time the Black Bombers could not meet the expectations of the people of Ghana and boxing fans.
In 2022 at the Games in Birmingham Ghana won three medals in boxing, including silver and bronze. In 2018, the whole contingent won one bronze medal by boxing.
This year in Glasgow, things did not go as expected and head trainer, Dr. Ofori Asare declared he is not a magician to conjure the medals in preparations had not been good and boxers not getting their kits right.
For the President of the Federation Dauda Fuseni, he did not want to promise, but hoped for an improvement on performance and medals.
The President of the Commonwealth Games Association, Ghana Richard Akpokavie was also optimistic initially from the preparations, but must be disappointed like all Ghanaians because the Team did not jell.
However, in boxing India won the most ten medals to top with seven gold and three silver, England placed second with four gold, three silver and three bronze.
Among the African nations, Namibia did well to grab three medals; one silver and two bronze, Lesotho had two bronze, Zambia had two bronze and Ghana had one bronze.
In total medals haul, Nigeria was the best for Africa as they collected a total of 24 medals comprising ten gold, seven silver and seven bronze, South Africa had 28 with seven gold, 11 silver and 10 bronze while Kenya got three gold, four silver and five bronze.
Australia were the overall champions of the 2026 Commonwealth Games with 171 medals, made up of 70 gold, 45 silver and 56 bronze, England were second with 110 medals, 29 gold, 45 silver and 36 bronze, while Canada were third with 62 medals, 19 gold, 20 silver and 23 bronze, India took the fourth position with 39 medals; 13 gold, 17 silver and 9 bronze.
Generally it was not a good show by Ghana, known as a sporting nation, despite the fact that some individual athletes did their personal bests, like swimmer Abeiku Jackson who broke a national record and para athlete Hayford Addai who went to the 100meters final and placed fifth at his first Commonwealth Games appearance.
Team general captain Joe Paul Amoah was in the 200meters final but placed seventh, while the 4 x 100meters squad’s fourth place in their race missed the bronze medal by seconds.
Observations after the 2026 Commonwealth Games is that there were lapses in planning and preparations with the concentration mostly on the Ghana House project and music by Dope Nation than the athletes preparations and main purpose of the Games.
By Sammy Heywood Okine