Ghana has lost another sporting hero James Aryee Addy, the unassuming athletically built track and field star who will be buried in Accra on 1st May (May Day- Workers day); fittingly for the hard work he did on the athletics tracks. Aryee held the record of being a member of Ghana’s Olympic team more than any other track and field performer in the country. In short he was four time Olympian.

At 21, Addy first took part in the Olympic Games in Rome 1960 where he ran in the sprints relay. His second Olympics was in Tokyo 1964, where he reached the semi-finals in his favourite event 200 metres.

1968 saw Addy in Mexico for his third successive Olympics. He was quite a matured athlete by then and in high altitude trials in Kenya prior to the Olympics, Addy clocked a fast time of 21 seconds in the 200 metres. In Mexico, Addy did the 200 metres in an appreciable time of 20.9 secs but this was not enough to give him a medal.

At the age of 33, Addy made his fourth Olympic appearance in Munich 1972 and ran his personal best time of 20.8 secs in the 200 metres semi-finals only to be disqualified.

In between the Olympics, Addy had competed in three Commonwealth Games and one African tournament all with flying colours. In the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia, Addy won a bronze in the 400 metres relay alongside E.Q.Quartey, F.A.Owusu and J.A.Antwi.

The first African Games in Congo Brazzaville in 1965 earned him silver in the 400 metres.

In the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica, J.A Addy teamed up with B.K.Mends, E.C.O.Addy and S.F.Allotey to set a Games record of 39.5 secs in the 100 metres relay. In a pre-Games trial tourney, Addy set a national record of 20.0 secs in the 200 metres.

He took part in the 1970 Commonwealth games in Edinburgh, Scotland and partnered Mike Ahey, Edward Owusu and George Daniels to win silver in the 100 metres relay.

James Aryee Addy, born on December 19 1939, took to athletics at a very tender age when he was a pupil at the Osu Municipal Middle. It was in 1959 when he joined the Osu Achilles Club, that he really had encouragement from Coach Teye- Botchway. The coach nurtured him and he eventually caught the eyes of the national selectors.

In 1960, Addy joined the Ghana Army where he was tops and soon made the grade for the Rome Olympics.

In the Army, he successfully combined athletics with his profession as a machinist in the Base Workshop. After serving 19 years in the Army, Addy retired in 1979 and joined the National Sports Council as a coach. When old age and ill health set in, Addy was made security officer at the Sports Council till he finally retired from active service and led a private quiet life.

May he rest in eternal peace and may the present generation of athletes emulate his humility and dedication to the sport that gave him national and international fame.