If I were to ask you to mention a Ghanaian track and field athlete, what would be the first name that comes to mind? Don’t worry take your time, I will wait…Let me guess, you were thinking about sprinters like Rex Brobby, Benjamin Azamati or Sean Safo-Antwi?
Let me get more specific with my question and ask if you can mention a Ghanaian triple and long jumper? If yes you would mention names like Nadia Eke and Andrew Owusu. Well, today I get to introduce you to one of such names; he is a 7x National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) All American, NCAA DII National Long Jump Champion, 4x Lone Star Conference Champion and 2016 Ghana University Sports Association (GUSA) Triple and Long Jump Champion. From the number of honours I have mentioned, some may have already guessed the athlete to be featured in the article which isn’t fun at all but yes he is the incredible Abraham Seaneke.
For the uninformed don’t worry you will get to find out who this man is and why you should get excited to see him on the field. Born in Kokrobite back in 1996 Abraham would not develop an interest in track and field till he entered the Ebenezer Senior High School “I was a high jumper when I was at Ebenezer Senior High School” Abraham said in an interview with the Press Box.
In 2011 the youngster would get an opportunity to represent the Greater Accra region at the Inter-Regional Schools and Colleges Festival where he would be introduced to the long and triple jump “I thought it was really cool and I wanted to learn the sport. So when I came back I started working on it.”
After working on it for a year the young Abraham would have a fateful encounter with 2008 West-African Senior Championships bronze medalist Christopher Darko-Amankrah at the Asamoah Gyan Foundation’s Sports and Musical Jamboree, the meeting would see the experienced track and field athlete train the up-and-coming star.
“Coach Amankrah guided me, he taught me the sport of long jump and triple jump. So he actually made sure I fell in love with the sport and since then, I have been able to have enough motivation to continue jumping.”
Abraham would continue to compete in the Ghana circuit before entering the Accra City Campus of the University of Ghana (UG) were he would claim the 2016 Ghana University Sports Association (GUSA) triple and long jump title as well as being named the Discovery of the 2015/2016 Academic Year during the Vice Chancellor’s Sports Awards.
The Ghanaian star would then receive a scholarship to transfer to West Texas A&M University in the United States of America (USA) where he would make an immediate impact smashing a 35-year old triple jump record at the 2017 national outdoor games. Seaneke spoke to Univers Sports about his achievement saying “I was very extremely excited when I realised I have broken the long-standing record in the triple jump just in my first five months in the United States.”
Abraham is still with West Texas A&M University where he is working on getting his Master’s in Communications and Media Studies. The young star also volunteers as a coach, where he gets to train young up-and-coming athletes, something he plans to do a lot of once he retires and returns to Ghana.
“The more you are able to teach the things you do the more you are able to understand the concept or the things you are doing. So, for instance, my teaching those kids gave me the opportunity to understand some things a lot more and get some of the concepts that my coach is coaching me to do.”
“I also have the passion to give back to the sport once I am done competing and finally retiring from the sport. So that is something I really have in mind to do once I finally hang my shoes maybe in the next 10 years.”
So now that you have gotten to know Abraham Seaneke, let’s get to know why you should be excited to see him compete.
Let’s start off with the Ghanaian’s progression over the years which is something not to be scoffed at; In 2017 during the WT Classic and Multi Abraham jumped 7.28m in the outdoor long jump, in 2018 he bettered his record jumping 7.70m at the ACU Wes Kittley Invitational, 2019 saw him destroy those jumps with an 8.08m jump during the 2019 West Texas A&M Invitational which sadly was deemed illegal. I, however, feel I have made my point in every stat Seaneke improves all the time and he continues to push himself till he is the best there is.
If you still are not convinced I leave you with this;
