Abdul-Rasheed Saminu
Abdul-Rasheed Saminu is a Ghanaian sprinter. He represented Ghana at the 2024 Olympic Games and 2025 [World Athletics Championships].
Early life
Saminu is from the village of Nanumba in Ghana where he was a keen footballplayer before being encouraged towards athletics. He attended the American universities Florida Memorial University and the University of South Florida after being recruited by USF head coach Erik Jenkins.
Career
Saminu ran a wind-aided 9.95 seconds for the 100m at the South Florida Invitational in April 2024.Saminu won the gold in the 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m relay at the AAC Championships in May 2024 in San Antonio, United States. His efforts included a personal best time in the 100m of 10.03 seconds in a legal wind and ran a time of 20.34 seconds in the 200m.
Saminu ran 10.02 seconds for the 100m at the 2024 [NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships] in Eugene, Oregon. In the 200 metres on the same day he ran a personal best of 20.12 in the 200 metres. Later that month, he was part of the Ghana 4x100m relay team that won gold at the African Championships in Athletics|African Championships] in Douala, Cameroon.
He competed in the 100 metres at the Athletics at the [2024 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres|2024 Paris Olympics], where he reached the semi-finals. He also competed in the Athletics at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Men's [4 × 100 metres relay|men's 4x100m relay] at the Games.
In 2025, he set an early world lead with a time of 9.86 seconds for the 100 metres. In September, he was a semi-finalist in the 100 metres at the 2025 [World Athletics Championships – Men's 100 metres|2025 World Championships] in Tokyo, Japan. He also ran in the men's 4 x 100 metres relay at the championships as the Ghana team placed fourth.
Sprinter Abdul-Rasheed Saminu was named Male Athlete of the Year at the 2025 Stampede of Champions Awards, recognising his outstanding performance in athletics.