Ignisious Gaisah in action in Paris 2003 (© Getty Images)
With a fourth place at last year’s World Championships in Paris and a third place at the inaugural World Athletics Final, long jumper Ignisious Gaisah is now Ghana’s strongest medal hopeful for the Athens Olympic Games. Carole Fuchs reports
2003 was arguably the most prolific year for Ghana in the history of the sport. After finishing with three finalists and three semi-finalists at the World Championships in Paris last August, the overseas-based athletes particularly shone six weeks later at the All-African Games in Abuja where they all reaped at least one medal each for a total tally of 4 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze.
Topping this new dynamics was newcomer Ignisious Gaisah, who was virtually on the World Championship's podium of the Long Jump until the fourth round when the "big bosses" eventually took hold of the situation.
Following his fourth place in Paris with 8.13m, Gaisah improved his national record by 5cm (8.26m) when he finished 3rd at the World Athletics Final in September, before adding another 4cm to his best for a massive win at the All-African Games, 38cm ahead of his closest challenger!
If his results keep improving at the same pace, the 21-year-old could stand a good chance to clinch the first Olympic medal in athletics for Ghana, the fifth overall, twelve years after the soccer team's bronze and the medals won by his boxing countrymen. But this all happened such a long time ago that the young jumper confesses he's not even heard of them.
Gaisah’s first steps in the international circuit in 2002 when he came on to break the African junior best with 8.12m where somehow very surprising to observers as the young boy didn't seem to have any previous Long Jump performance.
To such an extent was his name unknown that he was even erroneously taken for a Sierra Leonean for several months before the mistake was corrected.
The 8-metre barrier hadn't come by magic though and was, as one can expect, the result of several years of hard work. It simply turned out that the Ghanaian had not made the work easier for statisticians, after starting his career under the name of Anthony Essuman.
"My full name, Anthony Ignisious Gaisah Essuman, is a bit too long," the young athlete who eventually chose to be called Ignisious Gaisah when he arrived in Europe in 2002 explains.
As a young boy, Anthony/Ignisious was first and foremost interested in football, like most of his fellow countrymen. But prone to injuries, he prompted decided to look for a sport with fewer direct contacts with his opponents.
At the age of 16, he took up athletics, a sport that his mother had briefly practised at a time when sport was not thought to be compatible with a family life.
"I used to do mostly Long Jump and sprints. At the time I would run the 100m in about 11.1-11.2 and the 200m in about 22.3-22.4."
It was his performances in the Long Jump which rapidly drew the attention of onlookers world-wide though. Following his national title with 7.40m in 1999, he granted himself his first national team selection and consequently a bronze medal (7.42m) at the African Junior Championships in Tunis the same year.
The turning point came in 2002 when he travelled to the Netherlands to visit a family friend. He then literally jumped at the opportunity to go and show his skills at the local club, the PAC Rotterdam.
"They thought I was quite talented," commented Gaisah, who has since then carried on his preparation under the guidance of Monique Berrevoets (sprint coach) and Eric van der Steenhoven (Long Jump coach), among a group of amateur athletes.
Looking back at 2003, the Ghanaian feels the reason why his best performances came late in the season is due to the triggering effect of the World Championships.
"2003 was my first year as a professional, so I was a little impressed. Only after the World Championships did I realise that the athletes I jumped against, were just like me. And this gave me greater confidence," he explained. "I was expecting to jump better than 8.30m at the All-Africa Games though, but there was no-one to push me further. I definitely hope I will break the African record held by Cheikh Touré (8.46m) this season."
Whatever the future holds, his breakthrough has brought a lot of improvement in his life and has put him in a better position to prepare for the Olympics.
"Last year I was struggling, nobody knew me. I had to compete a lot to make a living and to get known on the circuit."
Like many other contenders for a medal, Gaisah intends to compete sparingly and focus more on training. About his Long Jump technique, he describes himself as "not as powerful as the other long jumpers but able to compensate with my sprinting skills."
He sees the last few strides of the run-up as the main technical aspect he needs to improve on. "I tend to lay back too much five strides before takeoff, I should be able to stay up straight longer."
Unlike his fellow countrymen, the young jumper decided to spend most of this winter at home, only to come back to Rotterdam in May. After feeling a sting in the hamstring in February’s Birmingham meeting, his first indoor meeting, he decided to end his winter season and fly back home to Ghana.
It goes without saying that facilities in Ghana are far from being first-class but Gaisah is now used to it and can count on the vital support of Francis K. Agyi who supervises the training sessions he is sent from the Netherlands.
Gaisah also feels it is important for him to prove his less famous compatriots that competing in the European circuit at the highest level of competition is not a dream beyond reach.
Just like his overseas team-mates, Gaisah hopes Ghanaian athletes will all be reunited before the Olympic Games in order to get back into the excellent group dynamics that brought so many successes last summer.
"A lot of things changed since our collective success at the All-African Games. The nation’s number one interest is football, but since we were so successful last year in Abuja, there is now a lot of expectation on us to perform well."
The pressure doesn't seem to be too heavy a weight for Ghana's strongest prospect to carry. "I'm not afraid. If the Olympics had been held last year, it would have been too early for me, but now, I feel physically and mentally very strong," were Ignisious Gaisah last words.
Published in IAAF Magazine Issue 2 - 2004
