High jumper Rose Amoanimaa Yeboah, 22 years of age, is fast establishing her reputation as one of the most consistent athletes of her time.
Ever since bursting on the scene with a gold medal winning feat of 1.84m at the 2019 African Games in Rabat, Morocco, Yeboah, a former student of the University of Cape Coast, has featured prominently for Ghana across multiple continental events.
But truth be told, she had shown tremendous championship stuff to win at Rabat 2019, but her performance back then was not considered top notch. Back then, that honour belonged to U.S. based Abigail Kwarteng. It was therefore surprising that Rose rather won the gold medal at the event.
There was more to come as Rose showed grit and determination to produce another gold medal winning feat, this time as Ghana’s sole female athlete at the 2022 African Seniors Championships in Mauritius. She produced a 1.79m performance to take first place on the opening day of the event.
Rose captured the imagination of the sporting public at the 2023 FISU World University Games at the Shuangliu Sports Centre, Chengdu where she rose to the occasion with a statement of intent, setting a new national record 1.94m which eclipsed the previous best of 1.92m by Abigail Kwarteng.
In March 2024, she successfully defended her crown at the African Games, Accra 2023 scaling the bar at a height of 1.90m to win gold.
Three months later, Rose rose to the occasion beating Nigeria’s Temitope Adenisa to win the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships, at Hayward Field, Eugene, OR USA with a spectacular 1.97m(NR).
More importantly, she punched her ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympics and became the first Ghanaian female athlete to win an NCAA championship.
Such is her acclaim. She is a performer and rises to the occasion every time. This is a rare quality many athletes do not possess.
I have actively covered Ghana athletics since 2009 and I dare say we (Ghana) have not been blessed with such a talent who is able to perform at these levels.
She easily reminds me of one of the greatest, if not the greatest Ghanaian female athlete of all-time, heptathlete Margaret Simpson who won three African Championships gold medals (Tunis 2002, Brazzaville 2004 and Nairobi 2010), and three African Games gold medals (Abuja 2003, Algiers 2007 and Maputo 2011) during her reign.
Margaret ruled Africa with an iron fist during her time and I witnessed her last medal feat, a gold in the javelin throw at the 2012 African Championships in Porto Novo, Benin. This was after she had withdrawn from the heptathlon citing injury.
On the world stage, Margaret’s won bronze medals at the Helsinki 2005 World Championships and Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games respectively.
Rose has already had the privilege of competing at the XXII Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games, Birmingham 2022 where she came 7th overall with a low key 1.85m performance. The commonwealth games may be considered a B-standard event involving about 70 nations. But the Paris 2024 Olympic Games offers a great platform for Rose to exhibit her talent. The experience would be key for the budding 22-year-old as she climbs up the ladder to greatness.
On a cursory note, I was impressed with the manner of Rose’s performance at the African Seniors Championships in Douala, Cameroon as she dug deep into her reserves to make the win possible. She opened her campaign, clearing 1.75m and 1.78m on the first attempt on each occasion. She came unstuck at 1.81m and failed to clear on two attempts. By contrast, her closes challengers Nigeria’s Temitope Adenisa and Guinea’s Fatoumata Balley cleared 1.81m on their first attempts. With elimination starring her in the face, she finally cleared the bar on her third attempt. She came back strongly and cleared the bar at 1.84m while her challengers struggled, only clearing on their respective second attempts.
But when she cleared 1.87m on her second attempt, her opponents could not match her performance as both failed on their third attempts. The Ghanaian high jump queen failed to clear 1.90m and retired for the day knowing she had already bagged another gold medal.
Rose had done it and risen to the occasion once again. Now maybe, a good time to unwind after a long NCAA season and prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Rose is surely shooting for the skies at age 22.
