Blessing Afrifah

Afrifah was born in Tel Aviv in 2003 to parents who had immigrated from Ghana.[4] His parents are Prince and Cynthia, and his younger sister, Mercy, is also an athlete.[4] As a child, he hoped to become a footballer and trained with Maccabi Tel Aviv's youth football team, but left because his family could not afford the fees.[4]

At age 11, a teacher suggested that he try sprinting, and he began training with Maccabi Tel Aviv athletics coach Igor Balon.[9] Balon taught him his initial running fundamentals after his return to the club through its athletics department.[4] By age 16, Afrifah had recorded 10.85 seconds in the 100 meters and 21.67 seconds in the 200 meters.[9]

Family responsibilities accompanied his athletic development: from age 15, he helped care for his ill father.[4] He also gave his family the modest payments he received from Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Athletics Association because the money mattered to their household.[4] Afrifah graduated from Ohel Shem high school in Ramat Gan, spoke Hebrew fluently, and served in the Israel Defense Forces.[10]

Afrifah and his family received permanent-resident status in 2010 under a government decision concerning children of foreign workers born in Israel who met specified criteria.[4] Although he regarded himself as Israeli, he could not represent Israel internationally without citizenship.[9][4] After a prolonged legal campaign, assisted by attorney Tomer Warsha, he received Israeli citizenship in 2020 at age 16 from then-interior minister Aryeh Deri.[9][4]

In 2019, Afrifah finished second in the adult Israeli championship's 200-meter event, but his lack of citizenship prevented official recognition of his placing.[3] He went on to become Israel's youngest senior national champion in both the 100 and 200 meters.[4]

His first international competition was the 2021 European Under-20 Championships in Estonia, where he led the 100-meter final before finishing fourth, outside the medals.[2] At the 2021 World Under-20 Championships in Nairobi, he reached the 200-meter final after running 20.49 seconds in a semifinal with a tailwind above the permitted limit.[2] A technical mistake in the final left him seventh in 21.03 seconds.[2]

At the 2022 World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Cali, Colombia, Afrifah improved his 200-meter mark three times within a little over 24 hours.[4] He entered the competition with a mark of 20.55 seconds, ran 20.37 in the heats, and lowered that to 20.17 in the semifinal.[4]

In the final, Afrifah won gold in 19.96 seconds, setting Israeli and championship records.[1] The result also broke the European under-20 record by eight-hundredths of a second, surpassing a mark that had stood for 13 years.[9][4] His final 100 meters took 9.96 seconds.[9]

The gold medal was decided by a photo finish against Botswana's Letsile Tebogo, who had led for much of the race.[2][1] Afrifah won by six-thousandths of a second, becoming only the fourth athlete to run the distance in under 20 seconds before turning 20.[2][1] Both runners broke 20 seconds, the first time two under-20 athletes had done so in the same race.[3] Afrifah's victory was Israel's second gold medal in the history of the championships.[1]

While awaiting the photo-finish decision, Afrifah had believed he had finished second and was happy with that result.[2] On learning that he had won, he exclaimed: “Is it true? Did it happen? I am the world champion!”[9] He later told Tebogo that, in his eyes, Tebogo remained “the king of the track.”[2]

At the 2023 European Athletics Under-23 Championships in Espoo, Finland, Afrifah won the 200 meters in 20.67 seconds, one-hundredth ahead of Dutch runner Raphael Bouju.[5] He had recorded the best qualifying result and ran 21.14 seconds in the semifinal.[5][11] An injury at the beginning of the season had affected his preparation.[5] His victory was Israel's first gold and third medal in the history of the championships.[11]

In 2024, Afrifah finished seventh in the 200 meters at the European Championships.[12] He then represented Israel in the men's 200 meters at the Paris Olympics.[7] In his opening-round heat, he ran 20.78 seconds and placed fifth, ranking 35th overall.[7] He ran 20.88 in the repechage and finished 16th in that round, missing the semifinals.[7]

Afrifah successfully defended his European under-23 200-meter title in Bergen, Norway, in 2025, winning in 20.64 seconds.[6] Italy's Damiano Dentato finished second in 20.69, followed by Spain's Jaime Sancho in 20.76.[13] The victory gave Afrifah his second consecutive title, following his 2023 win.[6]

At the 2025 Israeli Athletics Championships in Jerusalem, Afrifah ran 10.09 seconds in the 100 meters to set an Israeli record.[8] He cut 11 hundredths from the record he had shared with Alex Prohomovsky, whose mark dated to 1999.[8] The victory made Afrifah the Israeli 100-meter champion for the sixth time.[8] Afterward, he said: “I expected to run fast, but not like that.”[8]

In September 2025, Afrifah competed in the 200 meters at the World Athletics Championships in Japan.[14] He finished fourth in his heat in 20.47 seconds, ranking 28th overall.[14] With the three fastest runners in his heat advancing, he did not qualify for the semifinal.[14]

Afrifah's international achievements include Israel's second gold at the World Under-20 Championships and its first gold at the European Under-23 Championships.[1][11] His 2022 world title combined an Israeli record with championship and European under-20 records.[4][1] His 2025 national championship victory established a new Israeli standard in the 100 meters.[8]

Afrifah has connected his athletic ambitions to supporting his family.[2] After winning the 2022 world under-20 title, he said: “What do I want? For them to take care of my family; they have a hard life. That's why I started running.”[2]

He has also emphasized the importance of citizenship to his career and his identification with Israel.[4][6] Looking back in 2025 on the period before naturalization, he said: “It was not easy at all, I was prevented from flying abroad and representing the Israeli national team in international competitions.”[6] After his second European under-23 title, he described citizenship as having given his career a “boost” and said he was representing Israel and bringing medals as he had wanted.[6] He described representing Israel as an honor and said he felt he was standing for a community.[6]