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Blessing Afrifah

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Blessing Afrifah
Afrifah in 2022
Personal information
Native nameבלסינג אקווסי אפריפה
Full nameBlessing Akwasi Afrifah
Born (2003-10-26) 26 October 2003 (age 21)
Tel Aviv, Israel
Height5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight165 lb (75 kg)
Sport
CountryIsrael
SportAthletics
EventSprints
ClubMaccabi Tel Aviv[1][2]
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Israel
World U20 Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Cali 200 metres
European U23 Championships
Gold medal – first place 2023 Espoo 200 metres
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 was the 200 metres champion at both the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships, and at the 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships. Afrifah represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the men's 200 metres, and finished 16th.

Early life

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Afrifah was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel, and later moved with his family to Ramat Gan, Israel.[3] His parents are of Akan ethnicity, from Kumasi, Ghana, and moved to Israel a decade before he was born.[2][1][4][5][6] His father and his mother initially came to Israel separately as tourists in the mid-1990s.[3] They remained -- with his father working in the consular division of Ghana’s embassy, and his mother working as a cleaning lady.[5][3] Grateful to Israel they pledged that they would have a son named Blessing and a daughter named Mercy.[3] His younger sister Mercy is also a sprinter.[3]

As a child and teenager, Afrifah studied at Ohel Shem high school in Ramat Gan, Israel. He briefly played soccer, then turned to athletics at the age of 11.[7] He speaks fluent Hebrew and English.[3] He is 5 ft 11 in (180 cm), and weighs 165 pounds (75 kg).[3]

Running career

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Early years; Israeli championships

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At the age of 14, Afrifah began working with national coach Igor Balon.[6] Afrifah's club is Maccabi Tel Aviv.[7]

Afrifah won the Israeli Championship in the 100m in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, with his best time being a 10.23 in 2023. He won the Israeli Championship in the 200m in 2020-24, with his best time being a 20.63 in 2023 in Jerusalem.[3]

2022; World U20 Champion

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At the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia, at 18 years of age Afrifah won the 200 m in a photo finish with a championship record time of 19.954, 0.006 seconds ahead of Botswanan Letsile Tebogo.[8][9] Afrifah, who then draped the Israeli flag across his body, was the first Israeli to run the 200 metres race in under 20 seconds.[2][10] In recorded competitions, only two humans under age 20 had run a faster 200 meters, one being Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who later won the event three times in the Olympics and four times in the world championships.[2]

2023-present; European U23 Champion

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Next year, at the 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships in Espoo, Finland, Afrifah won the 200 m with a time of 20.67, just 0.01 second ahead of Dutch Raphael Bouju.[11]

His personal best at the 100m is 10.20 in 2023 and 2024, and at the 200 m is 19.96 in 2022.[3] His highest European ranking in the 200m was 4th.[12]

Afrifah said: "I feel I’m standing for a community. Israel is a country that [some] countries hate, so it’s an honor to represent them. I want to prove [anti-Israel slander] is not true and Israel is different, and I’m proving it through sports."[2]

2024 Paris Olympics

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Afrifah represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the men's 200 metres at the Stade de France.[13][14] He attended a ceremony at the Paris Olympics that was held to remember the 11 Israeli Olympicans killed in the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.[15] At 20 years of age, he ran a 20.78 and came in 5th in his first round qualification heat, and he ran a 20.88 in the last chance repechage round, finishing 16th and not making it to the semifinals.[16][17]

Personal life

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In 2010, Afrifah was granted permanent residence status, along with his sister and parents, following a government decision to not deport children of foreign workers born in Israel.[6] At the age of 16, he was granted Israeli citizenship after he appealed to Israel's Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri.[18][6]

When asked about his feelings upon receiving his Israeli identity document, Afrifah replied: "I’m an Israeli. I was born here, my friends are here.... I’m no different from my friends, which are residents of Israel. I want to represent Israel and win medals." He was given full citizenship in 2020, and said: "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."[19]

As an Israeli citizen and thus conscripted by law upon reaching 18 years of age, Afrifah served in the Israel Defense Forces beginning in 2022. He served on an army base in Rehovot, in a program limited to elite sportspeople that provides a more flexible service.[19][3]

Career statistics

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Figures from World Athletics profile.[3]

Personal bests

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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

International championships

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Representing  Israel
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
2024 European Championships Rome, Italy 7th 200 m 20.97 +0.8
Olympic Games Paris, France 16th (rep) 200 m 20.88 0.0

100m progression

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Year Time Location Date Notes
2019 10.85[20] Tel Aviv, Israel
2020 10.49 Tel Aviv, Israel 27 July
2021
2022
2023
2024

200m progression

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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
2024 20.46 Rome, Italy 9 June

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "בלסינג אקווסי אפריפה". Israeli Athletic Association. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e Hillel Kuttler (5 December 2022). "Blessing Afrifa; Israel’s Usain Bolt takes aim at the 2024 Olympics in Paris," Tablet.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Blessing Akwasi AFRIFAH | Profile". World Athletics.
  4. ^ "Blessing Akwasi AFRIFAH | Athlete profile". European Athletic Association. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  5. ^ a b Rakovsky, Ido (28 July 2022). "הוא שובר שוב ושוב את שיאי ישראל, אך עדיין חולם על אזרחות למשפחתו" [He repeatedly breaks Israel's records, but still dreams of citizenship for his family]. Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d Joshua Halickman (12 August 2022). "Afrifah a true blessing for Israeli sprinting; Israeli sprinter Bessing Afrifah captured the gold medal in the 200-meter dash at the Under-20 World Athletic Championships". The Jerusalem Post.
  7. ^ a b Horovitz, Michael (5 August 2022). "Israel's Blessing Afrifah wins gold in 200m dash at under-20 world championship". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Israel's Blessing Afrifah wins gold in the 200-meter dash at the U-20 world championships". Aurora. 5 August 2022.
  9. ^ Mulvenney, Nick (5 August 2022). "Israeli Afrifa stuns Tebogo to win 200m at world juniors". Reuters. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Israeli runner Blessing Afrifah wins gold at World U20 Championships; The 18-year-old is the first Israeli in history to finish the race in under 20 seconds". I24NEWS. 5 August 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  11. ^ "Alasaari adds to Finland's title haul with surprise pole vault victory in Espoo 2023". European Athletic Association. 16 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  12. ^ "Blessing Akwasi AFRIFAH," European Athletics.
  13. ^ "Israel's delegation to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games". Wingate Institute (in Hebrew). 25 June 2024. Archived from the original on 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  14. ^ "Road to Paris 24". World Athletics.
  15. ^ "Israeli athletes receive threats in Paris as tensions simmer over Gaza," AP.
  16. ^ Joshua Halickman (August 7, 2024). "Afrifah comes up just short of 200m semis," The Jerusalem Post.
  17. ^ "Blessing Afrifah finished ..", X, Team Israel.
  18. ^ Porat, Avinoam (12 February 2020). "Teenage runner faces hurdle to Israeli citizenship". Ynet. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  19. ^ a b Porat, Avinoam (30 August 2022). "Israeli gold medalist sprinter gets drafted to IDF". Ynet. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  20. ^ Afrifah ran a 10.79 seconds in a 100 metre dash in Rishon LeZion in 2019, but the result was disqualified and not counted.
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