Meet accountant Eugene Amo-Dadzie now the fastest in Europe 4 years after taking up sprinting

He describes his story of getting into athletics as interesting. Sprinter Eugene Amo-Dadzie, who is also a full-time accountant, took up athletics four years ago after a friend urged him to. The two had in 2018 come across an athletic meet going on after playing football at a track in London. 

While watching the 100m, Amo-Dadzie’s friend said to him: “You could put a pair of spikes on and beat these guys. Why haven’t you tried this properly before?” Amo-Dadzie didn’t have an answer for his friend but that was the day he said “something woke up” in him to try it out.

Coming from a Ghanaian home, Amo-Dadzie had been doing athletics just for fun and never thought of competing at major events. His Physical Education teachers used to tell his parents to get him into a club. He competed for his secondary school and intended to join the athletics team while studying at the University of Nottingham but got distracted along the way, he told BBC.

But on that day in east London after watching the local track meeting, Amo-Dadzie decided to give athletics a try. He joined Woodford Green and Essex Ladies AC in the autumn of 2018 and just a year after his first training session there, he got to the British Championships semi-finals, where he raced against Olympians Adam Gemili and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey. According to BBC, that race brought a personal best of 10.55, which he subsequently lowered to 10.20 in 2021 and 10.05 the following year.

In March this year, he earned his first British vest at the European Indoor Championships, where he reached the 60m semi-finals. Last Friday, the 30-year-old sprinter, who calls himself the “world’s fastest accountant”, clocked up an amazing 9.93-seconds in the 100 meters in Graz, Austria, at the Horst Mandl Memorial, making him the quickest in Europe this year. The time also places him fourth on the British all-time list.

“Up until that point I had never looked across at the clock and seen three numbers – I’ve never looked across and seen the number nine!” he told ITV News London. “So I remember feeling like I was flying. I crossed the line and saw the nine – I didn’t even see the .93 afterwards and I went crazy!” he added.

Amo-Dadzie was excited to be visited by anti-doping officials after his race as he said it is a validation of his achievement. The accountant, who is expecting to represent the British team for August’s World Championships, attributes his success to having a big support network including his employers, who help him work remotely, and his wife.

Currently, he has no sponsors or funding but he is sure to get them if he pushes harder.