The Minister responsible for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, has made a passionate appeal to the country to rally behind Ghanaian boxer, Samuel Takyi to win a gold medal at the ongoing Olympic Games.
Mustapha Ussif said: “I want to use this opportunity to appeal to all Ghanaians to support Takyi because he has made history.”
Takyi is already guaranteed a medal after his quarter-final victory over Colombian, David Avila Ceiber, in the featherweight division in Tokyo.
With semifinalists in boxing guaranteed at least a bronze medal, Takyi has become the toast of the nation, with many Ghanaians overjoyed at his success.
The Sports Minister is confident, the boxer will not disappoint, but rather outperform and show great sportsmanship by winning a gold medal for Ghana.
He has thus asked Ghanaians to throw their weight behind the fighter in order for him to give off his best to the nation.
“At the stage he has qualified to now, he will be able to get us either silver or gold if he gets to the next round. So we are just praying. We are going for gold; that is what he has assured us”, Mustapha Ussif said on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday.
Trailing the 32-year-old Colombian on all the judge’s scorecards going into the last round, Takyi showed experience and spirit beyond his age to pummel the two-time Olympian into submission, successfully overturning the deficit to secure a 3-2 split decision victory in the early hours of Sunday.
By booking a semi-final spot, Takyi is guaranteed at least a bronze medal even before he takes on American Duke Ragan in the semi-final fight on Tuesday, August 3.
In the meantime, Takyi says he won’t be content with winning anything other than a gold medal.
“I’m happy but not [content] because the competition has not ended. I’ve already told Ghanaians I’m going to bring the gold medal home, and God has got me into the medal places. Ghanaians should keep on praying for me. I’m in the semi-final, they should keep praying, and I’ll make it to the final and see what God will do. They should keep praying for me, and I’ll bring the gold back to Ghana”, he told the Ghana Olympic Committee’s social media team.
It is Ghana’s first Olympic medal since the Black Meteors won bronze at the 1992 games in Barcelona.
