Spotlight
Mr. Andrew Owusu - World-renowned Ghanaian Athlete

Where from, and where to?

Mr Andrew Owusu Ever since I was a kid, I have been in love with jumping. But it used to be jumping down from extreme heights. I remember regularly jumping off my neighbor's garage roof with friends. But I quickly realized if I wanted to stay out of the hospital, it would be advisable to quit jumping from extreme heights. My wake up call was landing on the back of a friend after we both jumped from the roof at the same time.

My competitive jumping career in athletics did not start until my 5th year in secondary school (1990) at Presec-Legon. Late in secondary school, I realized that I had a better vertical jump than all of my classmates. Yet I did not think of myself as a long or triple jumper until I found out that I could also perform both the standing triple and standing long jump (broad jump) much further than anybody in my school. Encouraged by the sports master, Mr. Boye-Badu, and friends, I represented Engmann House in the annual inter houses (athletics) competition and ended up winning both the triple jump (13.16m) and the long (6.30m). Within 4 months, I had improved to 15.48m in the triple jump and 7.08m in the long jump. Along the way, I won the national title at the secondary school level i.e., inter regions, in both the long and triple jump that year. The following year, 1991, I became the first Ghanaian to win both the long and triple jump at the regionals consecutively.

In August 1991, I came to the University of Alabama on a Track and Field scholarship. Though I had a very rough indoor season, I finished up with All-American honors in the triple jump that year outdoors. By the end of my career in Alabama, I had earned 8 All-American honors in the Long and Triple jump. I also held the school long jump record (indoor) at 7.99m (26'2'') and still hold the outdoor triple jump record at 16.76m (55'00'').

The crowning moment of my collegiate career came in March 1996 when I won the indoor national title (NCAA) in the long jump, on the very last jump of my college career. I graduated from Alabama with a B. S. degree in Biology (Microbiology background) in December 1996.

Athletics after Alabama has also been great. In 1998, I was ranked 10th in the world (based on distance) and 7th in the world by Track and Field Magazine based on head to head competition. During that year, I represented the continent of Africa at the World Cup in Athletics in Johannesburg, South Africa. That same year, December 1998, I completed a Master of science (Education) degree in Sports Administration and Management at Wayne State College. It has been a long and fruitful career in athletics and I have been blessed with achieving the honor of holding both Ghanaian national records in the triple jump (17.23m) and the long jump (8.12m). I consider the records a temporary honor and hope Ghana has other athletes in the pipeline who will rewrite our national records in due time.

My own athletic performance is not all that I have an interest in, however. I am in the 4th year of a Ph.D. program in Human Performance (emphasis on health) at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU).

Some of the projects that I am currently involved with are:

The following is a list of some of my accomplishments in Athletics.

Submitted by Clue Odadee 2001.

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