Kenya out to have big contingent at Paralympics
By Amos Abuga, January 17, 2020
Kenya National Paralympics Committee (KNPC) intends to send a big team to the World Paralympics qualifiers set for February 25 to March 2 in Marrakech, Morocco.
KNPC official Mathew Mugenya said they are hoping to field a big number of athletes in the qualifiers which is likely to increase Kenya’s chances of sending a strong team to Tokyo.
Mugenya said the body held its trials at Kasarani Stadium on Tuesday to select a team for the qualifiers, but did not meet the numbers they had anticipated.
“Our target is to enter as many athletes as possible for the qualifiers. Essentially, we want to give chance to new para athletes who are equally talented but have not had the opportunity to compete internationally,” Mugenya disclosed.
“As KNPC, we shall decide on what to do especially with the athletes who did not qualify from the national trials,” he stated.
Mugenya is also optimistic Kenya will have intellectually disabled athletes classified as T20 taking part at the Paralympics. Those athletes will compete at 1,500m, 400m, long lump and shot put.