Ghana’s fastest man, Abdul-Rasheed Saminu, has revealed why he chose not to compete in the 200m event at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Despite qualifying for both the 100m and 200m events, Saminu only participated in the 100m, where he reached the semi-finals. In an interview with 3Sports’ Bill Eshun, he explained that the decision to withdraw from the 200m was entirely his.
“The 200m was just my decision. Typically, I’m a 200m guy. I like it more when I have more endurance. But my endurance level wasn’t great because I had ended my season about a month earlier,” Saminu said.
Although the 200m is his natural event, Saminu admitted that he wasn’t physically ready to perform at his best.
At the Games, he had to choose between competing in the 200m or supporting Ghana’s 4x100m relay team, which required his presence. Ultimately, he chose to drop the 200m and focus on the 100m and relay events.
“Most especially, the 4x100m needed me. They didn’t want me to run three races at once. So I just dropped the 200m and went with the 100m and the relay,” he added.
Unfortunately, Ghana’s relay team didn’t make it past the heats, a result Saminu called disappointing. However, he remains optimistic.
In 2025, he bounced back stronger, clocking an impressive 9.86 seconds, making him the fastest man in the world so far this year.
