Joseph Taylor (Left)
Ghana’s athletics history was rewritten on Saturday as 19-year-old Joseph Taylor stormed to a record-breaking victory in the men’s 400m at the 2025 ACC Outdoor Championships in Atlanta.
Competing for Duke University, the freshman clocked an astonishing 44.98 seconds to win the race, smashing the long-standing national record of 45.13 seconds set by Ibrahim Hassan in 1996.
In doing so, Taylor became the first Ghanaian athlete to break the 45-second barrier in the quarter-mile event—a monumental achievement for both the sprinter and the nation.
The milestone performance unfolded at the George C. Griffin Track and was officially confirmed in the meet results published by Flash Results.
Taylor’s blistering time also meets the qualifying standard for the upcoming World Athletics Championships, adding to his growing reputation as one of Ghana’s brightest young prospects in track and field.
His performance not only secures his place in Ghanaian athletics history but signals a promising future for the nation’s sprinting pedigree on the global stage.
By Wletsu Ransford