Blessing Afrifah

Blessing Akwasi Afrifah (Hebrew: בלסינג אקווסי אפריפה, born 26 October 2003) is an Israeli track and field athlete who specializes in the sprints. He is the 200 metres gold medallist at the World Athletics U20 Championships in 2022.[1]

Blessing Afrifah
Personal information
National teamIsrael
Born (2003-10-26) October 26, 2003
Tel Aviv, Israel
Sport
CountryIsrael
SportAthletics
Event(s)200 metres
Medal record
World U20 Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Cali 200 metres

Biography

Blessing Afrifah was born and raised in Israel to parents from Ghana. His father came to Israel as an employee of the Ghanaian consulate.[2] He studied at Ohel Shem high school in Ramat Gan. He briefly played soccer, then turned to athletics at the age of 11.[3] At the age of 14 he began working with national coach Igor Balon.[4]

In 2010, he was granted permanent residence status following a government decision not to deport children of foreign workers born in Israel. At the age of 16 he appealed to Israel's Minister Aryeh Deri for Israeli citizenship.[5] Afrifah is the first Israeli to run the 200 meter race in under 20 seconds.[6]

At the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia, Afrifah won the 200 metre race in a photo finish with a championship record time of 19.954, just 0.006 seconds ahead of Letsile Tebogo.

See also

References
  1. Mulvenney, Nick (August 5, 2022). "Israeli Afrifa stuns Tebogo to win 200m at world juniors". Reuters. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  2. Blessing Afrifa, the son of the embassy employee who became Israel’s hope
  3. Horovitz, Michael (August 5, 2022). "Israel's Blessing Afrifah wins gold in 200m dash at under-20 world championship". The Times of Israel. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  4. Blessing Afrifa, the son of the embassy employee who became Israel’s hope
  5. Teenage runner faces hurdle to Israeli citizenship
  6. Israeli runner Blessing Afrifah wins gold at World U20 Championships
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