Ghana’s former national athletics coach, Elorm Amenakpor, has issued a passionate call for the country to treat its record-breaking 4x100m relay squad with the same priority and investment enjoyed by the senior men’s football team, the Black Stars.

The quartet of Ibrahim Fuseini, Benjamin Azamati, Joseph Paul Amoah, and Abdul-Rasheed Saminu stunned the world at the Tokyo Olympics by setting a new national record of 37.79 seconds in their heat and later finished fourth at the World Athletics Championships with a time of 37.93 seconds—just 0.04 seconds shy of a podium finish.

Amenakpor believes Ghana is on the brink of global sprint glory but risks losing momentum if urgent steps aren’t taken.

> “We really need to handle this team like we handle the Black Stars,” he told JoySports. “The relay is wide open—top teams can drop batons. The Netherlands, who edged us out for bronze, camp every three months. They understand training periodization, and they hold four camps before major championships.”

The ex-coach is urging government agencies, corporate sponsors, and sports stakeholders to act now by funding regular training camps, scientific coaching, and athlete welfare. He insists that such support could be the difference between another near-miss and Ghana’s first global relay medal.