Shouts of ‘Akwaaba!’ (Welcome) reverberated across Kotoka International Airport as Asafa Powell, history’s fourth-fastest man and the first Jamaican to break the 100m world record arrived in Accra, Ghana on Monday.
The former world-record holder will be in Ghana until March 7.
During the trip he will meet and speak with local athletes, pay a courtesy call on the President of the Republic at the Jubilee House and also engage the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ghana Olympic Committee and the LOC (Local Organizing Committee) of the African Games Accra 2023 as well as the Ghana Athletics Association on how best Ghana sports can benefit from his huge image on the international sports arena.
Hundreds turned out to see the sprint legend in person as the Ghanaian media lined up for interviews with the now-retired Jamaican Olympian to hear what he and the Ghanaian Olympic Committee (GOC) headed by President Ben Nunoo Mensah, had in store for the athletic community in Ghana.
“The welcome I received upon landing yesterday was truly amazing, the warmth, the music, the dancing and the hospitality was beyond fantastic,” Powell said on Tuesday.
“I feel like I am in my home away from home.”
Powell’s wife Alyshia Powell, who was born and raised in Ghana, was excited to be able to share her homeland, culture and family with her world-famous husband.
Powell began the second day of Ghanaian trip with a visit to Ghana’s Youth & Sports Minister, the Honourable Mustapha Ussif. He and his wife also visited Black Star Square as well as The Ghanaian House of Parliament.
On Wednesday, Powell is scheduled to visit the residence of the late footballer Christian Atsu. While there, he will sign the condolence book for the Ghanaian footballer who perished during the recent earthquake in Turkey that claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people.
He is also scheduled for a media session hosted by the Ghana Olympic Committee at the Accra City Hotel.
On Thursday, Powell and his wife head to the Cape Coast to visit the school she attended as a child as well as to trace his ancestral roots. He will meet some of Alyshia’s family as well as the Chief of Cape Coast.
GOC President Nunoo Mensah thanked corporate Ghana for their swift response in supporting the visit and embracing Powell as their own.
