Jamaican sprints sensation Usain Bolt reminds me of Ghana’s Mike Ahey, one of the finest athletes the West African state has produced. The antics and mannerisms of Bolt are quite similar to those of Ahey in his hey days in the 60s. He added colour and splendour to track and field just like the affable Bolt is doing. Both have similar height except that Bolt has more flesh on his body.

Ahey was a good sprinter in his own right and he also added spice to the long jump event winning gold at the 1962 Perth Commonwealth Games with a record to boot.

Ahey was a member of Ghana’s legendary” fearsome foursome” sprints quartet comprising B.K.Mends, Bukari Bashiru and M.F.Okantey, that shared a Games record with England in the sprints relay at the Perth commonwealth Games in 1962.The photo finish showed England a shade ahead and they were credited with the gold but credited with the same time of 40.6 secs as Ghana.

Ahey had earlier clocked 9.7 secs in the 100 yards heats and had gone on to set a record of 26 ft 5in in the long jump. Some analysts said the long jump event had an adverse effect on Ahey as a sprinter and it is felt that he could have been world champion at the short distance if he had quit the field event. It is argued that not many sprinter can conveniently combine the track events with those on the field. Carl Lewis and his godfather Jesse Owens are exceptions.

The late Sports Director of Ghana Ohene Djan, who was Ahey’s mentor often, recalled with nostalgia how he achieved his record jump at his instance. Ahey had made two faulty jumps and left with the last chance, Ohene Djan advised him to close his eyes, accelerate and avoid the white mark and jump high which he did to win gold.

Ahey was the crowd favourite especially at Accra Stadium as he usually made a show of awards presentation. He would always jump on the podium with hands raised and respond to chants of his name by the elated fans. As if by design he always run the anchor in the sprints relay and was often heard complaining that Okantey, assured of an imminent first place didn’t finish strongly enough. “We want to set a record, we want to set a record” he often complains albeit jokingly.

Ahey, now a part time athletics coach, acknowledges his resemblance of Bolt. He believes Ghana can return to the glory days as a strong athletics nation if the right structures are put in place. He is happy that a less patronized sport like hockey is being given such wonderful boost in the country and is hopeful that with former active athletes in charge of the discipline at the moment many more talents would be unearthed and Ghana could emulate Jamaica.

There is no doubt that the recent shot in the arm to hockey and the promise of similar facilities to boxing by the Ministry of Sports may pose a challenge to what many regard as over concentration on football. It is hoped the managers of our football will accept the challenge and ensure a trouble free programme towards a successful qualification to a second successive FIFA World Cup.

Since the FIFA has decreed that all domestic fixtures must be completed long enough to herald the World Cup, the Football Association and the Premier League Board must come out as quickly as possible with the agenda for the next season. With the colourful presentation of the league cup to Accra Hearts of Oak over, the programme to admit fresh teams for the next league must be pursued vigorously to enable the new season start on time.

It is definitely going to be a heavy season but with the right focus all will be well.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports