Wednesday, May 16, 2012

GHANA TO FEATURE IN LONDON 2012 PARALYMPICS GAMES


By GNA & Paralympic page


Para athletes, Alem Mumuni and Charles Narh Teye have qualified for the London 2012 Paralympics Games scheduled for 29 August to 9 September, 2012.

Alem successfully defended his title as African champion in December last year and went on to participate at the International Cycling Union (UCI) Para-Cycling Road World Championship, where he was one of two Africans.

Alem is the first Ghanaian para-cyclist to compete at the Paralympic Games, thus making history for his country, Ghana.

“The battle has just begun. I will work hard to make Ghana and Africa proud. It is a great honour to qualify” Alem noted.

Teye, a Powerlifter, made the qualifying mark after winning gold at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Powerlifting Invitational Tournament in the United Kingdom last January, as well as participating in a similar event in Dubai recently.

An elated Teye said “Qualifying for London 2012 is not easy but sports has made me realize I can do everything able people can. I will use this opportunity to help others believe too.”

The duo are among four para-athletes being supported by the 'Right to Dream Paralympic Programme'.

The other two, Raphael Nkegbe Botsyo and Anita Fordjour, are both currently on a trip to the United Kingdom and Switzerland in their bid to secure A-standard times in the respective events.

Botsyo is a two-time Paralympian whilst Fordjour won bronze at the 2011 All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique.

Qualifying for the London Olympics is not the end of the athletes' mission, they are all determined to use this opportunity as a platform to change the perception of disability in Ghana from a negative to a positive one and inspire the next generation of talent to become world-class athletes.

"I want to change people's perception about people with physical disabilities- I have seen that the talent I have in sports is one of the tools I can use to do that", added Alem.

Susie Daniell, head of Paralympic Programme of Right to Dream, said the long term vision of the programme is to establish the first ever residential youth programme for para-sports at the Academy.

She therefore called for partnership to support the athletes in the lead up to the London 2012 and to position Ghana at the forefront of the Paralympic Movement in Africa.

With 170 events and 1,100 athletes, athletics is the biggest sport on the Paralympics agenda. It is open to all disability groups, meaning there is a lengthy list of classes. Athletes compete in traditional track and field events with modifications made for certain disabilities.

The track events range from 100m to 5,000m - there is no Paralympic 10,000m. Field events are split into throwing - featuring discus, javelin and shot put - and jumping, consisting of high jump, long jump and triple jump.

Like in the Olympics, track events start with heats to eliminate athletes, before the best performers meet in a final. The marathons will be straight finals held on the streets of central London.

Events

Men’s 100 metres, women’s 100 metres Men’s 200 metres, women’s 200 metres
Men’s 400 metres, women’s 400 metres Men’s 800 metres, women’s 800 metres
Men’s 1,500 metres, women’s 1,500 metres Men’s 5,000 metres, women’s 5,000 metres
Men's 4 x 100m relay, women's 4 x 100m relay Men's 4 x 400m relay

Men's marathon, women's marathon Men’s long jump, women’s long jump
Men’s triple jump Men’s high jump

Men's shot put, women's shot put Men's javelin, women's javelin
Men's discus, women's discus Men's club, women's club

Classes

11-13: Athletes with visual impairment 20: Athletes with intellectual impairment
31-38: Athletes with cerebral palsy 40-46: Athletes with limb loss or deficiency
51-58: Athletes competing in wheelchairs

The first number of each class symbolises the disability group while the last number reflects the severity - the lower the number, the heavier the disability.

A 'T' or an 'F' is added in front of each number to signal whether the athlete competes in track or field events.

Gold medals available

170

Tactics and techniques

The demands upon athletics are best summarised by the Olympic motto "higher, stronger, faster". A wide range of techniques and physical abilities are required, depending on the nature of the event and of the athletes' disabilities.

Wheelchair athletes, for example, require formidable strength from their upper bodies and as well-drilled coordination, whether wheeling oneself forward on the track or trying to generate maximum power behind a throw.

Blind athletes are permitted acoustic signals in the 100m, long jump and triple jump events - such as voice or hand clapping. They are also allowed a guide runner for track events shorter than 1,500m, to make sure they stay within their lane. Here, runner and guide occupy one track each.

With athletics being the most ancient form of activity and, in many ways, the symbol of Olympic ideology, it was an obligatory inclusion to the first Paralympics, in Rome in 1960.

Only one Paralympian athlete has ever competed at athletics in the Olympics. American Marla Runyan won five Paralympic gold medals between 1992 and 1996 before qualifying for the Olympics. She came eight in the 1,500m final in Sydney 2000, and also competed in Athens 2004.

South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius looks set to follow her lead. He was controversially banned from Beijing after his running blades were judged to give him an unfair advantage. The decision was later overturned, leaving only qualification times between him and London 2012.

Legends

The most successful Paralympian in terms of medals is Franz Nietlispach of Switzerland, who won a formidable 14 gold and six silver medals between 1980 and 2000. He has also competed in handcycling and table tennis, and is now a politician in his home country.

Tanni Grey-Thompson, who has won 11 gold medals in wheelchair racing, is among Britain's most successful Paralympians of all time.

Schedule

Athletics in the Olympic Stadium begins on August 31 and concludes on September 8. The marathon will be held on September 9.

Venues

The Olympic Stadium for track and field events, and central London for the marathon, starting and finishing at the Mall.



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