Jamaican sprint icon, Asafa Powell is calling for a collaboration between Ghana and the Jamaica Paralympic sport in the area of an exchange programme to expose athletes from both countries.

In making the proposal, the ‘sub-10 sprint king’ argued that such a move would be beneficial for both countries to have exchange programmes that would help expose their athletes to different ways of doing things.

Speaking during a meeting with Ghana’s President of the National Paralympic Committee (NPC-Ghana), Samson Deen, the 2016 Jamaican Olympic Games gold medallist praised Ghana for taking advantage to host the maiden Africa Paralympics Games.

Powell is currently on a 10-day visit to the West African country at the invitation of its National Olympic Committee.

Powell, who is visiting with his Ghanaian-Canadian wife, Alyshia Powell, observed that the continental competition would expand facilities for athletes on the local scene as well as afford international athletes and commended the NPC for the initiative.

He also commended Deen for bringing a lot of attention to the paralympic sport on the continent.

Making the best of the opportunity

Deen, who doubles as the President of the Africa Paralympic Committee (APC), told Graphic Sports in an interview recently that they were prepared to collaborate and take advantage of that opportunity.

Additionally, Deen said the Jamaican sprinter expressed delight about the upcoming African Para Games and promised to join them during the competition slated for September this year.

The president welcomed the suggestion by Powell and hope to explore other areas of cooperation and for networking during the African Para Games in order to discuss modalities for an exchange programme. 

Deen confirmed that his office is in discussion with Powell’s management team over how the former 100m world champion could help promote the African Para Games reserved for athletes with disability.