Ghana’s national 100m record holder, Benjamin Azamati, is overjoyed after clocking a season’s best of 9.98 seconds at the McNabb Sprint Series in California — a performance that seals his spot at the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
“It’s been a long journey with ups and downs,” said the elated sprinter. “So finally making the qualification releases the pressure off me. Now I can focus on the rest of the season and prepare to be in my best shape before September.”
The performance marks Azamati’s fourth career sub-10 run under legal wind conditions. It places him tied for 17th on the men’s 100m qualification list for the global event.
Azamati’s route to qualification has been deliberate and disciplined. The 26-year-old, reached the semi-finals of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Recently he opted out of Ghana’s 4x100m relay team for the World Relays in Guangzhou. He did this to concentrate solely on the individual 100m. A gamble that has now paid off.
Aside from his individual exploits, Azamati remains a vital member of Ghana’s relay setup. He ran the back straight in the quartet that set the national record of 38.07 seconds at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Benjamin Azamati steady progression this season with times of 10.12s, 10.07s, 10.02s, and 9.93s (wind-assisted) culminated in his legal 9.98s finish in California, confirming that he is building form at just the right time.
Meanwhile, with qualification now secured, Azamati becomes the first Ghanaian sprinter to punch his ticket to the men’s 100m event at the 2025 World Championships.
The 2025 World athletics championships will be taking place from 13 to 21 September 2025 in Tokyo, Japan.
