Ernest Obeng's Olympic Story
Ghanaian athletics star, Ernest Obeng, continues to compete in international meetings and sometimes manages to win his favourite event, 100 metres. Last week, he placed third after winning his heat in the final 100 metres of a Coca Cola sponsored meeting at the Crystal Palace in Britain.
But at 28, there is no doubt that a big question mark hangs over his future in international competitions.
At his peak he defeated Britain's Alan Wells, the man who later became the 1980 Moscow Olympic champion. He was a long serving member of Ghana's various athletics teams to international competitions and gold could be counted among the several medals he won.
But Ernest Obeng's story is noted more for the opportunities he missed to compete in major international con- tests, including the 1980 and 1984 Olympic games in Moscow and Los Angeles respectively, not only due to his training in another country, Britain, but also his long standing argument with Ghanaian athletics officials over his suitability to compete for his motherland.
In the 1980 Olympic games, Ernest Obeng was deprived of competing following a Ghana government decision not to participate. Obeng regretted the decision but did not complain.
In the 1984 Olympic games Obeng could again not compete despite training hard and arriving in Los Angeles for the purpose of joining the Ghanaian contingent. But this time he is not keeping quiet over the disappointment. He also deeply resents the accusations put on him by the officials of the Ghana contingent to the Olympic games which formed the basis of his punishment and disqualification from competing.
He was accused by the officials of gross insubordination for staying out of the Olympic Village without permission, lacking team spirit and respect for officials on the team, suspected of sabotaging the team effort in the 4x100 relay since he had expressed a wish not to participate, carrying an unsuitable hair style and drinking alcoholic beverages two nights before the start of the event he was scheduled to compete in.
In Los Angeles, the immediate reaction of Ernest Obeng and his mother Dr Leticia Obeng of the United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, was to appeal to the PNDC Secretary for Sports and leader of the contingent to the games, Major Amarkai Amartefio, Ghana's ambassador to the UN, US, the Vice President of the International Olympic Committee, and Vice President of Ghana's Olympic Committee to intercede on behalf of the athlete. When the three officials who took the decision, Messrs Sam Okyere, Adjin Tetteh and Aryeetey stuck to their guns, Ernest Obeng felt so frustrated and disappointed that in a press statement he threatened to change his Ghanaian citizenship.
The threat has not yet been carried out, but as his mother Mrs Leticia Obeng flies from Nairobi to Accra to register her objections to the way her son was treated in Los Angeles, Ernest Obeng himself has issued a statement to refute the charges against him.
Major Amarkai Amarteifo (rtd) Secretary for Youth and Sports.
On the first charge of gross insubordination resulting from leaving the Olympic Village, Ernest explained that there was no procedure for the athletes to follow with regard to staying out of the village. He said there was no curfew in force in the village and that he informed the captain and other members of the team of his absence for a few days before his event took place. He did not leave his phone number because he needed peace of mind to concentrate for the most important day of his life. His family, however, knew where he was.
He said when he offered these reasons to the officials they had already scratched his name off the start list without giving him the chance to defend himself and also refused to accept the evidence of his witnesses.
Mr Obeng regretted that his plea for a more fitting form of punishment was rejected by the officials.
He continued: "I do not know of any coach or official who would deny his athlete peace of mind before an event as important as this or who would deny any athlete the chance to take part in the Olympics for reasons as ridiculous as these, or also would not understand the amount of stress an athlete must feel prior to competing in the Olympics.
"I was instructed to train at 10am daily with the other athletes. I explained to them that I had a complex training schedule which often involved several different sessions a day. They accepted my points when I presented them, but later gave them as a reason for their action against me." Reacting to the charge of lacking team spirit and that he was "too much of an individualist and an introvert," Ernest Obeng said: "I cannot understand what their evaluation of me has got to do with my participation in the Olympics, especially since I interact well with everyone else but these same officials, and it is my same personality and style which has got me to the height of achievement I have now.
"I did not participate in the flag raising ceremony and march past. I was not issued with the uniform for the flag raising ceremony since they had neglected to bring one for me from Ghana. My ticket for the march past was used by one of the officials.
"I have never been told by anyone but these officials that I lacked respect for them. What I believe they were demanding from me was subservience and automatic acceptance of whatever they decided was best. I have expressed my thoughts and opinions on certain issues in disagreement with the officials. I have never set out to do anything meant to disrupt the Ghana Olympic Team. Subservience is what they demanded and for them this was the only way they thought of to get it.
"As to my reasons for not taking part in the 100m relay given days before: I feel that the other members of the team had had more chance together to practice baton exchange (the most important aspect of the race at this level). "I was at no time told that my non-participation in the 4 x 100m was a pre-requisite of my participation in the Olympic games. Had I been told I would have then had to decide to sacrifice the 100m or to withdraw from the games. Therefore removal of my name from the start list the day before the competition in the 100m underlies their callous scheming against me. "Objections to my hairstyle: I have worn this hairstyle for several years. I was selected for the team with full knowledge of my hairstyle, furthermore, I don't see how it would influence my ability to compete two days before the event. Would the colour of my eyes have made a difference too?
"I was told that I was out drinking alcohol. I do not drink alcohol at all. This is a fact known by anyone who has mixed with me socially".
In conclusion, Obeng alleged that the general motives of the officials in their acceptance of their office on the Ghana Team were:
1. to be in Los Angeles just for fun and not to participate or give of their best;
2. they were hardly ever available for training sessions and asked athletes to fit in with their busy shopping and socializing sessions rather than vice-versa;
3. were not even at the Coliseum warm-up area with the athletes who were about to compete, but rather preferred to sit in the stands to watch the competitors of other countries;
4. were generally unavailable at the accommodation area even for any personal interchanges and asked the team captain to be responsible for these matters;
5. told members of the team to "shut up" at team meetings, their views were not accepted or respected;
6. appeared to believe that the Olympic Games were established for them and not for the athletes and even dominated the march past procession and enforced rules about competitors' running shoes (i.e. force athletes to wear shoes these officials willed without any consideration for athletes needs, preferences and the difficulties of 'breaking in' new and untried shoes days before competition;
7. have been slack and unreliable insofar as payments of travel expenses and allowances and distribution of team equipment are concerned;
8. refused to outline procedures whereby athletes could obtain guest passes for their coaches, relatives, etc; 9. treated athletes unfairly and inconsistently. For instance, they punished me and Owusu (who arrived late for the contrived roll call) and did not punish anyone else who has been late since that time.
10. exhibited lateness and inconsistency in making entries for the athletes. Some competitors with better marks were not entered for events.
Rely on home based athletes
Ghana's National Olympic Committee has recommended that priority in Ghana's participation in future international sporting com- petitions should be given to athletes. based at home rather than those abroad when it comes to selection. The Committee (NOC) made this recommendation in a report on the Los Angeles 23rd Olympiad presented at a press conference.According to the NOC, experience gained in Los Angeles "should make us reconsider our method of selection of our sportsmen based outside Ghana. We should not from now on place too much premium on the reports received from the athletes and their coaches. Money spent in bringing them down home to justify their inclusion would in the long run prove to be money well spent.
In this way, the NOC said "we should concentrate more on our athletes based at home and encour- age them by sponsoring them to compete regularly at home and abroad."
Obeng (right) hands the baton to a team-mate in a relay race.
