See video of how Abeiku Jackson missed out on 100m butterfly semi-final by just 2 seconds

The young swimmer won his heat with an impressive time of 53.39 seconds but fell short of qualification by just two seconds.

Jackson finished first in the men’s 100m Butterfly Heat 2 on Thursday in a keenly contested battle against six others.

His finish time is a new national record, but it wasn’t enough to propel him to the semi-finals of the swimming event.

This is because every other athlete in the other two heats recorded a time better than Jackson’s 53.39 seconds.

Meanwhile, 16 swimmers have booked their place in the semi-finals of the swimming event, with the final scheduled for Saturday.

Jackson had earlier expressed his hope of making history by winning Ghana’s first Olympic medal in swimming.

"I have prepared very well and want to start on a bright note and advance to the next stage,” he told Chinese portal Xinhuanet.

"I am motivated to do well, and winning an Olympic medal in Tokyo would be historic.”

Meanwhile, Jackson is currently Ghana’s national record holder for 50m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle and 200m freestyle.

Watch how the Ghanaian swimmer narrowly missed out on a place in the semi-final:

Video: Watch how Abeiku Jackson missed out on 100m butterfly semi-final by just 2 seconds