Kenya at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
| Kenya at the Paralympic Games | ||||||||||
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| At the 2016 Summer Paralympics in | ||||||||||
| Competitors | ' in ' sports | |||||||||
| Medals | Gold 0 |
Silver 0 |
Bronze 0 |
Total 0 |
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| Paralympic history (summary) | ||||||||||
| Summer Games | ||||||||||
Kenya is scheduled to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016.
Funding and support
Kenya's Paralympic campaign had funding issues, which made it difficult for its sportspeople to attend world championship events as part of their Rio qualifying efforts.[1] Overall issues with lack of funding led to questions by the country's NPC if the country could end up missing the 2016 Paralympics entirely because sportspeople cannot attend important qualifying events.[2][3] If they missed the Games, it would be the first time the country missed them since they boycotted the 1976 Paralympics in Toronto.[2][3]
Disability classifications
Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories; amputation, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including blindness; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis.[4][5] Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Some sports, such as athletics, divide athletes by both the category and severity of their disabilities, other sports, for example swimming, group competitors from different categories together, the only separation being based on the severity of the disability.[6]
Athletics
Kenyan athletes had to miss the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, Qatar because of a lack of funding, caused by the government failing to release funds on time.[1][2][3] The funds of Sh8 million for 19 athletes had been approved by the government prior to the team heading to the African Games in Brazzaville, Congo in September.[2][3] The government said they had no money to pay for participation as the government was broke.[3] None of the Kenyan athletes going to the World Championships had yet qualified for Rio.[2][3] Kenyan athletes had qualified for the World Championships after their performance at the 2015 African Championships in Tunisia. At that event, the Kenyan squad won four gold, four silver and three bronze medals.[2] Kenyan athletes had also missed the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships as a result of funding issues.[3] Athletes impacted by the lack of funding and being unable to attend the 2015 World Championships included 1500m T11 world record holder Samuel Muchai. The Kenyan NPC hopes they can get wild card draws in athletics that will allow the club to send track and field competitors to Rio.[3]
Swimming
Lack of government funding to support Paralympic support threatened Kenyan participation at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships.[1]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 "Kenya risks missing Rio 2016 Paralympics swimming competition due to delay of funds". WatsupAfrica. 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 BRIAN YONGA (22 October 2015). "Kenya pulls out of Doha Worlds". Daily Nation. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Evelyn Watta (20 October 2015). "Broke government crushes Paralympians Rio dreams". Sports News Arena. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ↑ "Paralympics categories explained". ABC. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ↑ "Making sense of the categories". BBC Sport. 6 October 2000. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ↑ "A-Z of Paralympic classification". BBC Sport. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 25 December 2015.