Ghanaian Boxer Who Won Gold at African Games Shares Story on How ‘Politics’ Almost Ended His Dreams

• Mohammed Aryeetey won gold at the 2023 African Games
• The 21-year-old boxer nearly missed out on the tournament
• He disclosed how politics nearly robbed him of a gold medal

Boxer, Mohammed Nii Ayikwei Aryeetey, has shed light on the journey behind his gold medal triumph at the 13th African Games in Accra, Ghana.

Aryeetey, affectionately called the 'Golden Boy', clinched one of Ghana's four gold medals at the multisport event, but he revealed that his participation was almost jeopardised.

The boxer explained that initially, there was no slot allocated for him to compete in the Games. Faced with this setback, Aryeetey took immediate action.

He had to appeal to the Ghana Boxing Federation to secure a place in Ghana's team, known as the Black Bombers, for the tournament.

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Fortunately, his plea was successful, and he seized the opportunity to showcase his skills, ultimately winning a gold medal.

Aryeetey's road to gold amid 'politics' setback

Reflecting on his path to success, the Accra-born orthodox boxer shared how navigating through 'politics' nearly dashed his hopes of representing his country at the prestigious African Games.

"It came to a time that I had to plead to join the team [for the African Games] which was not supposed to be. I had to do it because there was a lot of politics going on in the team," he said as quoted by Myjoyonline.

The former Ghanaian National Super Flyweight Champion also disclosed that his original weight category was already filled, so he made the decision to move down to the 48kg category.

"I spoke to the President of the Federation, and we did our possible best and they gave me the opportunity to join. They told me someone had occupied my weight category so I had to drop down and I promised them I could do it.

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He shared how he had to train late into the night just to fulfil his dreams of competing at the African Games.

"I used the camping in Cape Coast to do my best [in terms of dropping to the minimum weight category]. I was training while everyone was asleep..."

How Aryeetey won gold at the African Games

Despite facing setbacks, Aryeetey defied the odds by securing a unanimous victory against his Zambian opponent, Maonga Nene, in the round of 16.

He then defeated Hamza Essaadi from Morocco with a 5-0 victory in the semi-finals and achieved the same result against DR Congo's Tulembekwa Zola Livens at the Trust Sports Emporium, Bukom, to clinch the gold medal, per 3news.

Ghana makes top 10 list based on gold medals

Ghana initially faced challenges but gradually asserted its presence, achieving its highest-ever medal tally in African Games history.

As reported by Sports Brief, Ghana amassed a total of 68 medals. Out of these, the host nation secured a total of 19 golds, placing them among the top 10 countries based on their gold medal count.