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.
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 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 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
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
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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