Blessing Afrifah Explained

Blessing Afrifah
Full Name:Blessing Akwasi Afrifah
Native Name:בלסינג אקווסי אפריפה
Native Name Lang:he
Birth Date: df=y 26 October 2003
Birth Place:Tel Aviv, Israel
Height:5' 11"
Weight:165 lbs
Country:Israel
Sport:Athletics
Event:Sprints
Club:Maccabi Tel Aviv[1]
Pb:| medaltemplates =| updated = 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

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

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.[6] He speaks fluent Hebrew and English. He is 5 ft 11 in (180 cm), and weighs 165 pounds (75 kg).

Running career

Early years; Israeli championships

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

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.

2022; World U20 Champion

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.[7] [8] Afrifah, who then draped the Israeli flag across his body, was the first Israeli to run the 200 metres race in under 20 seconds.[9] 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.

2023-present; European U23 Champion

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.[10]

His personal best at the 100m is 10.20 in 2023 and 2024, and at the 200 m is 19.96 in 2022. His highest European ranking in the 200m was 4th.[11]

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."

2024 Paris Olympics

Afrifah represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the men's 200 metres at the Stade de France.[12] [13] 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.[14] 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.[15] [16]

Personal life

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.[17] At the age of 16, he was granted Israeli citizenship after he appealed to Israel's Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri.[18]

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.

Career statistics

Figures from World Athletics profile.

Personal bests

Surface Distance Time (s) W (m/s) Date Location Notes
Outdoor60 metres6.88+0.721 January 2021Tel Aviv, Israel
100 metres10.20+1.721 May 2023Tel Aviv, Israel=
150 metres15.57+0.627 April 2023Tel Aviv, Israel
200 metres19.96−1.04 August 2022Cali, Colombia
300 metres33.265 February 2022Tel Aviv, Israel
39.6621 June 2023Chorzów, Poland
Indoor60 metres6.9212 February 2022Belgrade, Serbia
200 metres20.9511 February 2023Metz, FranceNR

International championships

2021Balkan ChampionshipsSmederevo, Serbia5th (F)200 metres21.28+0.7
3rd4 x 100 metres relay40.12
European U20 ChampionshipsTallinn, Estonia4th (F)200 metres21.01+0.7
7th (F)4 x 100 metres relay41.18
World U20 ChampionshipsNairobi, Kenya7th (F)200 metres21.03+0.5
2022Balkan U20 Indoor ChampionshipsBelgrade, Serbia7th (F)60 metres6.92
Balkan ChampionshipsCraiova, Romaniabgcolor=gold1st200 metres20.98−1.9
5th (F)4 x 100 metres relay40.11
World U20 ChampionshipsCali, Colombiabgcolor=gold1st200 metres19.96 −1.0
European ChampionshipsMunich, Germany7th (F)200 metres20.69−0.3
2023European Team ChampionshipsChorzów, Poland100 metres
bgcolor=silver2nd4 x 100 metres relay39.66
European U23 ChampionshipsEspoo, Finlandbgcolor=gold1st200 metres20.67−1.1
World ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary33rd (h)200 m20.73−1.4
2024European ChampionshipsRome, Italy7th200 m20.97+0.8

100m progression

YearTimeLocationDateNotes
201910.85[20] Tel Aviv, Israel
202010.49Tel Aviv, Israel27 July
2021
2022
2023
2024

200m progression

YearTimeLocationDateNotes
201921.67Tel Aviv, Israel25 July
202021.17Tel Aviv, Israel28 July
202120.94Tallinn, Estonia16 July
202219.96Cali, Colombia4 August
202320.42La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland2 July
202420.46Rome, Italy9 June

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: בלסינג אקווסי אפריפה . . 16 July 2023.
  2. Web site: Blessing Akwasi AFRIFAH | Profile . World Athletics .
  3. Hillel Kuttler (5 December 2022). "Blessing Afrifa; Israel’s Usain Bolt takes aim at the 2024 Olympics in Paris," Tablet.
  4. Web site: Blessing Akwasi AFRIFAH Athlete profile . . 16 July 2023.
  5. News: he . 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 . Rakovsky . Ido . 28 July 2022 . . 16 July 2023.
  6. News: Israel's Blessing Afrifah wins gold in 200m dash at under-20 world championship . Horovitz, Michael . . August 5, 2022 . August 5, 2022.
  7. Web site: Israel's Blessing Afrifah wins gold in the 200-meter dash at the U-20 world championships. Aurora . 5 August 2022 .
  8. News: Israeli Afrifa stuns Tebogo to win 200m at world juniors . Mulvenney, Nick . . August 5, 2022 . August 5, 2022.
  9. News: 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. 5 August 2022 . . 16 July 2023.
  10. News: Alasaari adds to Finland's title haul with surprise pole vault victory in Espoo 2023 . 16 July 2023 . . 16 July 2023.
  11. https://www.european-athletics.com/historical-data/athletes/isr/blessing-afrifa-014897470 "Blessing Akwasi AFRIFAH,"
  12. Web site: Israel's delegation to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games . . 26 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240626074302/https://wingate.org.il/משלחת-ישראל-למשחקים-האולימפיים-פריז-2024 . 26 June 2024 . he . 25 June 2024.
  13. Web site: Road to Paris 24. World Athletics.
  14. https://apnews.com/article/olympics-2024-israel-threats-paris-438154dffc5e297921d3f7a9a7dfa58d "Israeli athletes receive threats in Paris as tensions simmer over Gaza,"
  15. Joshua Halickman (August 7, 2024). "Afrifah comes up just short of 200m semis," The Jerusalem Post.
  16. https://x.com/Olympic_Israel/status/1821075201217434039 "Blessing Afrifah finished .."
  17. Web site: 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. . Joshua Halickman. The Jerusalem Post. 12 August 2022 .
  18. News: Teenage runner faces hurdle to Israeli citizenship . Porat . Avinoam . 12 February 2020 . . 16 July 2023.
  19. News: Israeli gold medalist sprinter gets drafted to IDF . Porat . Avinoam . 30 August 2022 . Ynet . 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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