With the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 officially opening on Wednesday 28 August, we take a closer look at five-star African athletes to watch at the event.
Samwel Mushai Kimani
- Born: 26 December 1989
- Nationality: Kenya
- Paralympics event: T11 – 5000m Running
Visually-impaired middle distance runner Samwel Mushai Kimani missed out on a medal at Tokyo 2020 after doing the 1500m and 5000m Gold double in the T11 classification category at the 2016 Rio games. Paris 2024 is likely to be the Kenyan's last Paralympics and he is aiming to go out on a high with Gold in the 5000m event.
Najwa Awane
- Born: 18 April 1988
- Nationality: Morocco
- Paralympics event: Wheelchair Tennis
Moroccan Najwa Awane is one of Africa's best Wheelchair Tennis players and heads to Paris 2024 as a continental champion in both singles and doubles competition. The 36-year-old lost in the early rounds of Tokyo 2020, but will be backing herself to go a lot further in the French capital this time around.
Tigist Mengistu
Born: 12 March 2000
Nationality: Ethiopia
Paralympics event: T13 – 1500m Running
The winner of the first ever Paralympic Gold medal for Ethiopia, Tigist Mengistu dominated the T13 1500m at Tokyo 2020. Remarkably it was her first win at a major competition. The 24-year-old is the favourite to win the event again at Paris, especially after a triumph at the recent World Championships in Kobe, Japan.
Kayode and Christiana Alabi
Born: 30 October 1988 & 4 August 2002
Nationality: Nigeria
Paralympics event: Para Table Tennis
Kayode and Christiana Alabi are the 'power couple' of Nigerian Para Table Tennis. The pair married in 2022 and heads to Paris 2024 with hopes of both winning medals. Christiana will be competing in the women’s singles event, while Kayode will be battling in the men’s singles, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles alongside 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medalist Faith Obazuaye.
Kat Swanepoel
Born: 5 August 1987
Nationality: South Africa
Paralympics event: S4, SM4 – Swimming
A former national wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby player, South African Kat Swanepoel switched to swimming and competed in her first Paralympics at Tokyo 2020. The 37-year-old heads to Paris on the back of winning two gold medals at the World Para Swimming Championships in Manchester, England last year, where she also set an African record in the 150m individual medley.
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