Rosemary Chukwuma had initially planned to compete only in the 100m at the 2026 African Athletics Championships in Accra, but after narrowly missing out on gold in the short sprint, the Nigerian opted to add the 200m to her programme in pursuit of an individual title.
The decision paid immediate dividends as Chukwuma posted the fastest time of the semi-finals, clocking 23.24 seconds to book her place in Sunday’s final.
“I want that gold,” Chukwuma told Olympics.com after the race.
“I know we got gold in the 4x100m, but I want to leave here with an individual medal. That’s why I decided to run the 200m,” she said.
The 24-year-old had initially celebrated after crossing the line in Wednesday’s women’s 100m final, believing she had secured the title. But a lengthy photo-finish review confirmed Herverge Kole Etam as the winner by three thousandths of a second.
“It was very disappointing not to win and it was really hard to take. But I spoke to my coach after and we agreed to do the 200m and chase gold there as well.”
She’ll face strong competition from Maboundou Kone of Côte d’Ivoire, who won the second semi-final in 23.26, and Jawneh Nyimasata of Gambia, winner of the third semi-final.
Isatou Sey, Maram Mahmoud Ahm and Symone Darius secured the remaining automatic qualifying spots from the three semi-finals.
Rosemary Nwankwo and Niddi Minglishi completed the final line-up after advancing as the two fastest non-automatic qualifiers.
Joseph Paul Amoah targets 200m podium finish
Joseph Paul Amoah is targeting a podium finish after booking his place in the men’s 200m final at the 2026 African Championships, cheered on by a partisan crowd at the University of Ghana Stadium.
The 29-year-old won the opening semi-final in 20.79 seconds to secure qualification for the final.
It has been a rollercoaster few weeks for the Coppin State University alumnus, who helped Ghana qualify for the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing in the men’s 4x100m relay at the World Relays in Botswana.
Ten days later at the African Athletics Championships, he then narrowly missed out on a medal in the 100m after finishing fourth before returning to claim bronze with Ghana’s 4x100m relay team on Friday (15 May), despite the hosts being among the favourites for gold.
All of that within the span of 15 days could weigh heavily on any athlete, but Amoah, the reigning African Games 200m champion, is hoping home support can inspire another podium finish.
“My goal is to get through all the rounds and get to the final, and I’m happy I did that,” he told Olympics.com.
“Next target is to get on the podium, and I know how much support I always get here and hopefully I can draw a little energy from that to carry me through,” he added.
The man to beat in the final appears to be Côte d’Ivoire’s Cheickna Traore, who continued his impressive form after anchoring his country to men’s 4x100m gold. Traore comfortably won the third semi-final in 20.47s to advance.
Botswana’s Phaezel Selepe posted the fastest overall time of the semi-finals, clocking 20.45s to win his heat and stamp his authority ahead of the final.
Mouhamet Ba of Senegal, South Africa’s Mihlali Xotyeni and Botswana’s Kevin Lobatlamang also secured automatic qualification for the final, while Nigeria’s Chidi Okezie and Gambia’s Guy Maganga Gorreh completed the eight-man line-up.
READ MORE: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/african-athletics-championships-2026-rosemary-chukwuma-joseph-paul-amoah-cruise-to-200m-final
