Retired Jamaican sprinting star Asafa Powell says he is hoping to remain involved in the sport and is eager to share his experience with upcoming athletes and track and field interests after hanging up his spikes last year following a decorated sprinting career.

Powell is currently in Ghana on a 10-day visit to the West African country that is both a personal pilgrimage for the former 100m world record holder and his Ghanaian-born wife Alyshia, as well as an ambassadorial exercise aimed at not only strengthening sporting ties between Jamaica and Ghana, but also encouraging and inspiring the development of the sport in the country.

“I definitely want to still be involved with the sport. I want to be an ambassador for track and field and help out in whatever way I can,” Powell told the Jamaica Observer.

During his trip, the 40-year-old, who was invited by the Ghana Olympic Committee, will meet with several high-ranking government and sporting officials such as the president of the republic along with personnel from the Ghanaian sports ministry as well as the Ghana Athletics Association.

He will also interact and share his experiences with aspiring athletes from across the country and is scheduled to meet with the Local Organising Committee of the 2023 African Games, which will be hosted in Accra, beginning next week Friday.

During his trip, Powell will also pay a courtesy call on the Olympic Committee and will stage several sprinting clinics, visit schools across the region, as well as all the sites under construction for the African Games.

The former athlete is hoping that opportunities for this type of engagement and mentorship will continue to present themselves throughout his post-competitive life and believes it is imperative that athletes share their knowledge and continue to involve themselves in the development of the sport even after their careers have ended.

“I look forward to working with other Olympic committees, coaching bodies in colleges as well as track athletes that are considering making this their profession,” Powell said.

“I definitely think it’s very important for retired athletes to stay in the sport to remain involved because we can share our experiences with the upcoming athletes, share our mistakes, share our journey and hopefully they can learn from it and make better choices,” he added.

Powell, who is making his first trip to Ghana, said he is also excited to spend time in his wife’s country of birth.

“This is my first trip to Ghana and West Africa in general, so I am very excited to see where my wife is from and where she grew up and I am looking forward to experiencing the motherland because as you know, Jamaicans are very big on the motherland and Ghana,” said Powell.

“[I have been looking forward to] this trip for my own experience and wanting to make this trip with my wife and also to share my experience with the people in Ghana. Sharing my experience with the Olympic Committee of Ghana and future track athletes from there is important to me,” Powell added.

Powell is one of Jamaica’s most recognisable and celebrated sportsmen in history. He twice set the world record in the 100m between 2005 and 2008 with times of 9.77 seconds and 9.74 seconds.

He holds the record for the most sub-10 seconds 100m clocking in history with 97 clocking below 10 seconds.

Powell won World Championships bronze medals in the 100m at the 2007 and 2009 World Championships and won gold medals in the 4x100m at the 2009 and 2015 championships as well as silver at the 2007 instalment.

At the Olympic Games, Powell was a member of Jamaica’s gold medal-winning team at the 2016 Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro. He is also a five-time gold medal winner at the World Athletics Final and is a two-time Diamond League 100m winner.