(BEIJING, March 10) -- Ghanaian athletes believe that Ghana and China will improve their performances at the forthcoming Beijing Summer Olympics.

In an interview with Xinhua, Mr. Benson T. Baba, president of the Ghanaian Olympic Committee, praised Beijing for its Olympic preparations.

The country's men's football team won the bronze title at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, becoming the first African state to obtain an Olympic medal in the sport. Both men's and women's football teams from the country are hopefuls for the Beijing Games, China's Olympic team coach Ratomir Dujkovic predicted.

Ghana has already qualified for the Olympics in the women's 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay, as well as in the men's long jump and boxing events. Baba especially mentioned the name of female sprinter Vida Anim, saying that she might be a final hopeful, with the chance of earning a spot on the Olympic podium.

"The number of Olympic qualifiers from Ghana this year will be larger than that for the Athens Olympics, and we believe in China's stronger performances at the upcoming edition," said Mr. Baba, emphasizing China's need to watch out for challengers from the USA, Russia, and other powerhouses.

The president, who will pay a visit to Beijing next month, said that he has been receiving progress reports from BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXI Olympiad) and knew that BOCOG's work was progressing as scheduled, which is worth commending.

Ghana, the four-time host of the African Cup Finals, has envisioned the right to host the 2032 Olympic Games.

"Every country has its own dream and hopes to make it true. Ghana has four stadiums now, with two of them built by Chinese friends. If Ghana has more, we will be able to bid for the Pan-African Games, the Commonwealth Games, and finally the Olympic Games. This is our long-term sports development plan, with the current African Cup as part of it," he said.

He hoped that Chinese investors would help his country build more sports facilities to promote sports development in Ghana.