Ghanaian Alex Amankwah smashed Kennedy Osei’s 20 year-old national 800m indoor record after running a World Leading 1:46.86 at the Vanderbilt Indoor Invitational in Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday January 24.
The previous national indoor best had been 1:47.24, set by Kennedy Osei at a meet in Birmingham, United Kingdom on 25th February, 1995.
The University of Alabama junior, who won with a comfortable personal best followed by Leslie Cory in 1:47.63 and Jacopo Lahbi in 1:48.28, also broke his school’s 11-year old 800m record in the process.
[link id=”650″ tax=”post_tag” text=”Alex Amankwah”] was born in [link id=”7″ tax=”category” text=”Ghana”] on March 2, 1992, before emigrating to the USA with his parents Erick Amankwah and Dorothy Nyarko in later years.
The 22 year-old has been on the Ghana Athletics Association’s radar for a while now and, received consideration for the 2014 Commonwealth Games/African Championship selection for the 4x400m relay team, after just missing the GAA’s 800m qualifying standard.
Like many other national athletes, he will be looking forward to meeting the [link id=”344″ tax=”post_tag” text=”Ghana Athletics Association”]’s selection criteria for the 2015 All Africa Games and the World Championships in Beijing when the outdoor season begins.
His performance comes only a week after another national athlete, [link id=”641″ tax=”post_tag” text=”Flings Owusu-Agyapong”], posted a world leading 7.18 in the 60m at the Gotham Cup in New York.
OFFICIAL RESULTS – Vanderbilt Invitational 2015
Below is the latest Ghana athletics rankings as at January 24, 2015:
Women:
55m
- Janet Amponsah 6.95s 16-Jan Personal Best/2nd Ranked in the World
- Doreen Agyei 7.24s 06-Dec
60m
- Flings Owusu-Agyapong 7.18s 16-Jan =National Record/World Leader
- Janet Amponsah 7.41s 24-Jan Personal Best
- Gemma Acheampong 7.49s 06-Dec Personal Best
- Shekara Boakye 7.49s 16-Jan Personal Best
- Akua Obeng-Akrofi 7.60s 24-Jan Personal Best
- (Hand Time) Akua Obeng-Akrofi 7.3s 05-Dec
200m
- Janet Amponsah 24.01s 24-Jan
- Gemma Acheampong 24.71s 23-Jan
- Akua Obeng-Akrofi 25.06s 24-Jan Personal Best
- Doreen Agyei 25.09s 06-Dec Personal Best
- Shekara Boakye 25.18s 09-Jan Personal Best
- Lynette Akai 25. 69s 25-Jan
300m
- Gemma Acheampong 39.50s 16-Jan Personal Best
400m
- Ama Larbi 57.56s 10-Jan
- Bless Dupeh 58.54s 09-Jan
- Elizabeth Dadzie 59.07s 04-Dec
500m
- Stephanie Aidoo 1.17.28s 16-Jan Personal Best
- Bless Dupeh 1.17.63s 09-Jan Personal Best
600m
- Bless Dupeh 1.39.63s 04-Dec Personal Best
3000m
- Lydia Mato 10.49.31s 09-Jan
5000m
- Lydia Mato 17.14.40s 16-Jan Personal Best
60mh
- Elizabeth Dadzie 8.59s 24-Jan Personal Best
High Jump
- Elizabeth Dadzie 1.55m 06-Dec
Long Jump
- Nadia Eke 5.81m 16-Jan Personal Best
Shot Put
- Obeng Marfo 14.20m 17-Jan Personal Best
- Claudia Ababio 13.91m 24-Jan Personal Best
Weight Throw
- Claudia Ababio 16.20m 10-Jan Personal Best
- Obeng Marfo 16.02m 17-Jan Personal Best
Men:
60m
- Allah Laryea Akrong 6.74s 09-Jan
- Carrington Akosa 6.89s 24-Jan Personal Best
- Solomon Afful 6.89s 24-Jan Personal Best
- Emmanuel Dasor 6.92s 17-Jan
- Shadrack Adu-Gyamfi 6.95s 09-Jan
200m
- Emmanuel Dasor 21.36s 24-Jan Personal Best
- Carrington Akosa 22.11s 05-Jan Personal Best
- Daniel Gyasi 22.11s 24-Jan Personal Best
- Solomon Afful 22.41s 24-Jan Personal Best
- Shadrack Adu-Gyamfi 22.59s 09-Jan
400m
- Emmanuel Dasor 47.29s 17-Jan Personal Best
- Daniel Gyasi 48.40s 24-Jan
600m
- Emmanuel Dasor 1.22.24s 04-Dec
800m
- Alex Amankwah 1.46.86m 24-Jan =National Record/World Leader
60mh
- Yakubu Ibrahim 8.11s 06-Dec
- Atsu Nyamadi 8.41s 04-Dec
Pole Vault
- Jordan Yamoah 4.70m 16-Jan
- Atsu Nyamadi 3.50m 06-Dec
High Jump
- Atsu Nyamadi 1.89m 04-Dec
Long Jump
- Atsu Nyamadi 7.17m 04-Dec Personal Best
Triple Jump
- Nana Owusu-Nyantekyi 15.34m 07-Dec
- Atsu Nyamadi 15.04m 06-Dec Personal Best
- Michael Bruce 14.63m 24-Jan Personal Best
Shot Put
- Atsu Nyamadi 14.20m 09-Jan Personal Best
- John Ampomah 14.13m 09-Jan Personal Best
