African Games: Captain Grace Mintah hails Ghana Armwrestling team’s historic performance

Experienced Armwrestler, Grace Mintah insists that the performances of Ghana’s Armwrestling team in the 2023 African Games will go down in the history books as one of the best after Ghana clinched 41 medals while stealing the show across two days.

Unbeaten in the last three African Championships, Grace Mintah led the team from the forefront both on and off the table by inspiring her side after winning two gold medals in the Women’s 80kg right category.

Speaking to 3Sports about how pleased she was about the team’s performance and experience at the Games for Ghana, Grace Mintah expressed her gratitude to the Ghana Armwrestling Federation and the fans on the day, insisting that they all played a crucial part in the team’s pursuit of glory at the competition.

“I have to thank our Federation for the work done. We started camping and training in Cape Coast before moving to Legon and our efforts have paid off. The feeling from the fans is great. We are thankful for their support. The girl I met in the final, I have faced her many times and I knew I would beat her. The young ones are the next generation and that’s why we are staying with them and preparing them for the next challenge but overall, we have done so well and I know the team did the nation proud”, she said.

Many fans showed up at the Legon Cedi Conference Center to cheer the team on and showed excitement upon seeing Ghana host the first-ever continental arm wrestling contest.

Some fans in the arena shared their thoughts on the event and said: “ To be honest, I didn’t know a sport like this existed in the first place. I’m a woman. Seeing other women contesting with strength and speed really comes as a shock to me. You can see the efforts of the team paid off and I’m hoping we see more of this in the coming years.

“I was here yesterday and we won 21 medals, now we are winning more and topping the charts, I’m very happy and it’s clear that if our athletes were provided more support and resources we would conquer all of Africa and do more great things”, another stated.

In detail, Team Ghana won eight gold, 19 silver, and 14 Bronze medals in the Armwrestling events and this feat will most definitely be a stepping stone for more achievements for the team in the future.