Accra, May 23, GNA – Mr. Dave Harper, the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Geodrill, a leading drilling company in Ghana has challenged Ghanaian athletes to go for Gold as Ghana prepares for the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
The Commonwealth Games billed for April 4 next year, is an international multi-sport event, which involves athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations.
Mr. Harper in an interview with the GNA Sports pledged that an individual who wins a gold medal at the quadrennial Games would be rewarded with USD 10,000, whilst a team sport that emerges with a gold medal would also be given USD 10,000 to be shared by the team.
‘‘For instance a relay team that wins gold would be awarded USD 10,000 to share. This is not for silver or bronze medalists but only Gold’’.
According to him, the ‘‘Gold Challenge’’ is to challenge prospective athletes to go for the ultimate and urged the athletes, who would be representing the country to aim for the Gold medal.
‘‘I think Ghana can do better. We should be going for gold. This is a ‘gold challenge’ and I believe it would be good to come back with gold medals”, adding that, he would be happy if team Ghana wins two or three Gold medals’’.
Mr. Harper admonished the athletes to train hard and compete wholeheartedly to hoist the flag of Ghana.
He encouraged athletes to get a copy of Azumah Nelson’s book titled ‘‘The Professor’’ and learn from it, adding that, Azumah did not enjoy a privileged life yet overcame all obstacles to make Ghana proud at the international front.
‘‘They should emulate Azumah Nelson, the former Ghanaian boxer, who started from a humble beginning to achieve the accolades he earned for himself. No one made it easy for this man; he figured it all by himself with the support of his team. To achieve anything in life, you have to work extremely hard to achieve your set targets.’’
Geodrill is a leading exploration drilling company with a fleet of 56 drill rigs operating in Africa. The Company has operations in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and recently added Zambia.