Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Native name | בלסינג אקווסי אפריפה | ||||||||||||||||||||
Full name | Blessing Akwasi Afrifah | ||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Tel Aviv, Israel | 26 October 2003||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
Country | Israel | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Sprints | ||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Maccabi Tel Aviv[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Coached by | Igor Balon | ||||||||||||||||||||
Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||
Personal bests | |||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Updated on 16 July 2023. |
Blessing Akwasi Afrifah (Hebrew: בלסינג אקווסי אפריפה, born 26 October 2003) is an Israeli track and field athlete who specializes in the sprints. He is the 200 metres gold medallist at the World Athletics U20 Championships in 2022 and the European Athletics U23 Championships in 2023.
Blessing Akwasi Afrifah was born on Tel Aviv, Israel, the city where he was raised, to parents of Akan ethnicity from Ghana.[1][2][3][4] His father came to Israel as an employee of the Ghanaian consulate.[3] As a child and teenager, he studied at Ohel Shem high school in Ramat Gan and briefly played soccer, then turned to athletics at the age of 11.[5] At the age of 14, he began working with national coach Igor Balon.[4]
26 October 2003 inAt the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia, Afrifah won the 200 m in a photo finish with a championship record time of 19.954, just 0.006 seconds ahead of Botswanan Letsile Tebogo.[6] Afrifah is the first Israeli to run the 200 metres race in under 20 seconds.[7]
Next year, at the 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships in Espoo, Finland, he won the 200 m with a time of 20.67, just 0.01 second ahead of Dutch Raphael Bouju.[8]
In 2010, Afrifah was granted permanent residence status following a government decision not to deport children of foreign workers born in Israel. At the age of 16, he appealed to Israel's Minister Aryeh Deri for Israeli citizenship.[9] When asked about his oath and feelings when he received his Israeli identity document, he replied: "I’m an Israeli, I was born here, my friends are here and don’t know any other option. I’m no different from my friends, which are residents of Israel. I want to represent Israel and win medals." He was then given full citizenship in 2020 and stated: "I can’t describe how excited I am, I couldn’t even eat due to my excitement. I have more confidence and motivation to win achievements for Israel."[10]
As an Israeli citizen conscripted by law and reaching 18 years of age, Afrifah got drafted to the Israel Defense Forces in 2022 and did a more convenient and shorter service limited to high-ranked sportspeople and artists.[10]
Figures from World Athletics profile.[11]
Surface | Distance | Time (s) | W (m/s) | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Outdoor | 60 metres | 6.88 | +0.7 | 21 January 2021 | Tel Aviv, Israel | |
100 metres | 10.20 | +1.7 | 21 May 2023 | Tel Aviv, Israel | =NR | |
150 metres | 15.57 | +0.6 | 27 April 2023 | Tel Aviv, Israel | ||
200 metres | 19.96 | −1.0 | 4 August 2022 | Cali, Colombia | AU20R NR NU20R | |
300 metres | 33.26 | 5 February 2022 | Tel Aviv, Israel | |||
4 × 100 metres relay | 39.66 | — | 21 June 2023 | Chorzów, Poland | ||
Indoor | 60 metres | 6.92 | — | 12 February 2022 | Belgrade, Serbia | |
200 metres | 20.95 | — | 11 February 2023 | Metz, France | NR |
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Time | Wind (m/s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | Balkan Championships | Smederevo, Serbia | 5th (F) | 200 metres | 21.28 | +0.7 | |
3rd | 4 x 100 metres relay | 40.12 | — | SB | |||
European U20 Championships | Tallinn, Estonia | 4th (F) | 200 metres | 21.01 | +0.7 | ||
7th (F) | 4 x 100 metres relay | 41.18 | — | ||||
World U20 Championships | Nairobi, Kenya | 7th (F) | 200 metres | 21.03 | +0.5 | ||
2022 | Balkan U20 Indoor Championships | Belgrade, Serbia | 7th (F) | 60 metres | 6.92i | — | PB |
Balkan Championships | Craiova, Romania | 1st | 200 metres | 20.98 | −1.9 | ||
5th (F) | 4 x 100 metres relay | 40.11 | — | ||||
World U20 Championships | Cali, Colombia | 1st | 200 metres | 19.96 [.954] | −1.0 | AU20R CR NR NU20R PB | |
European Championships | Munich, Germany | 7th (F) | 200 metres | 20.69 | −0.3 | ||
2023 | European Team Championships | Chorzów, Poland | DQ | 100 metres | — | — | — |
2nd | 4 x 100 metres relay | 39.66 | — | PB | |||
European U23 Championships | Espoo, Finland | 1st | 200 metres | 20.67 | −1.1 | ||
World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 33rd (h) | 200 m | 20.73 | −1.4 |
Year | Time | Location | Date | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | 21.67 | Tel Aviv, Israel | 25 July | |
2020 | 21.17 | Tel Aviv, Israel | 28 July | |
2021 | 20.94 | Tallinn, Estonia | 16 July | |
2022 | 19.96 | Cali, Colombia | 4 August | AU20R CR NR NU20R |
2023 | 20.42 | La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland | 2 July |