Middle and long distance coach Ruth Chumo believes Kenya’s current Paralympics team is stronger than the one that represented the country during the 2020 Tokyo Games and has tipped the side to surpass the medal mark achieved at the last event.
Chumo spoke to People Daily yesterday as the team completed its two-week training camp in Compiegne and entered the athletes’ village in Saint Denis, Paris for the final days before August 28 Games opening ceremony.
In Tokyo, Kenya only managed a single medal at the Games, a bronze medal won by Nancy Chelangat in the women 1500m T11 race.
“Training camp in Compiegne has been great; we had a very conducive place for long runs in the nearby forest which suited the totally blind athletes that run in the T11 category. For speed work, the tartan track at the Compiegne Community Stadium was new so I can say we have trained well under very good conditions and on great facilities,” Chumo said.
She added: “ Medal chances are very high. I believe we will do better than in Tokyo. Currently we are working on the final touches in the remaining few days because we want everyone to win a medal.”
Following the Tokyo 2021 performance Kenya National Paralympic Committee (KNPC) decided to take a different approach tapping into some of Kenya’s most accomplished Paralympians and coaches with a view of yielding results at the Paris Paralympic Games.
Since the country’s debut at the Paralympic Summer Games in 1972 Heidelberg, Germany, the country had missed winning gold on one occasion, the 1988 Seoul, Korea Paralympics.
For the first time since 2017, Kenya failed to win a medal and especially gold, at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan.
Henry Kirwa, who is arguably the most decorated Paralympian, Chumo, Abraham Tarbei and 2016 Rio Olympics javelin thrower Julius Yego’s coach Joseph Mosonik, are some of the personal KNPC has vested their hopes on refining their lean team for the Paris Games.
Kirwa has six medals from Paralympics; four gold and two bronze.
Kirwa, 51, who is now the athletics team head coach for the Paris Paralympics, claimed an unprecedented three gold medals from the 2008 Beijing Paralympics in 1,500m and 5,000m T13 and 10,000m T12.
Tarbei has four medals; three gold and one bronze from the Olympics. Tarbei claimed 5,000m and 1,500m T46 gold medals from 2008 Beijing and 1,500 T46 gold from 2012 London. He added bronze in 800m T46 to his exploits in London.
Mosonik coached Yego to historic moments for instance when he won the 2015 world javelin throw title and 2016 Rio Olympics javelin silver medal, the first by a Kenyan. He has five Africa, two African Games and one Commonwealth Games titles.
Mosinik is handling Africa javelin silver medallist Sheila Wanyonyi while the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Paralympic Henry Nzungi is in charge of jumper Samson Ojuka.
