Disorganisation marked the start of the inaugural Africa Deaf Athletics Championship at Kasarani Stadium yesterday.
The event, initially scheduled to begin on Tuesday at 9 am, was postponed to 2 pm, then again to 3:30 pm before it eventually rolled off at 4 pm.
Besides, races including finals of 800m (men and women) and men’s 400m hurdles and 1,500m (men and women) were also shuffled. Both the 800m and 400m hurdles were brought forward to Day One yesterday from Wednesday (today) and Friday respectively, whereas 1,500m (men and women) earlier planned for today has been moved to Saturday. Women’s 10,000m event was struck out of the championships altogether.
The arrival of Libya, Ghana and Nigeria a few minutes to start time accounted for the whole reorganisation in a bid to accommodate all athletes.
The 2013 world junior deaf athletics 200m champion Beryl Wamira beat a strong field to win Kenya the first gold medal in women’s 100m. Wamira clocked 12.87secs ahead of Nigeria’s Assurance Omoira, who denied Kenya a 1-2 finish. She was timed at 13.21second for the second position whereas Kenya’s Ruth Awuor completed the podium positions in 13.58 secs.
Wamira, the first and only Kenyan deaf athlete to win a gold medal at the world stage over the distance, said the race was fairly competitive but she had prepared well to handle the pressure.
“It was a tight race. The Nigerian pushed me hard but I had the strength to press on. I am happy with the win and now I turn my focus to attack both world records in 100m and 200m,” intimated Wamira, who set the world junior record of 24.46 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Meanwhile, International Deaf Athletics Federation (IDAF) President Kentaro Shimobo has tipped Kenya to become a development hub for Deaf sports in Africa. Shimobo said the country has excelled in the (able-bodied and para) sports and would like to build on that feat to lift the deaf sports.
“For many years, teams from Africa have been going to other continents for championships but they have never had one on their own soil. This is good for Africa and I commend Kenya for hosting,” he said.
“My eyes are filled with joy. This is the first continental athletics championships and moving forward, we can think of having all the other 22 disciplines included and develop deaf sports. Kenya is a champion nation and we can start the development here as we spread to other countries in Africa,” said Shimobo who is also the president of the Japan Deaf Athletics Federation.
Shimobo helped Kenya acquire start light from the JDAF. Deaf Athletics Association of Kenya president Jones Kirui noted that the championship will help create awareness to the Africans because most of them are not willing to support deaf events. He said most African governments think deaf sports are under paralympics and we need to separate them.