World Athletics Championships: Ghana’s Alex Amankwah disqualified in men’s 800m heat

Ghanaian sprinter Alex Amankwah was disqualified in the men’s 800m heat at the 2022  World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

The 25-year-old, who run in heat 2 of the 800m in the early hours of Thursday looked set to qualify to the semifinal phase of the event after ending up as one of the athletes with the best losing times.

However, Amankwah was disqualified for violation of lanes. Replay showed that he got unto the line before the legal switch point.

Protest made by team Ghana on his disqualification was rejected with the judges insisting his lane violation happened three times in the first 100m. 

He finished the race behind Peter Bol, Kyle Langford and Mariano Garcia to come fourth with a time of 1:45.92 in heat 2.

His disqualification now means Ghana’s individual runners all failed to make it to the semifinal stage of their respective events.

Amankwah is Ghana’s national record holder in the 800m event with a time of 1:44.80 which he set in 2017.

He qualified for the World Athletics Championships after running a time of 1:44.97s at the Maryland qualifier.