Sports gave hope and love to these Paralympians
“My Girl” Kayode: A Cane to Play Tennis with Bath Slippers as Racquets in a Community of Wooden Benchtops
They are the stars of a charming video released by the British Broadcasting Corporation at the start of the games. “She’s my woman,” says Kayode as they play a match. “I can beat him any day any time,” says Christiana with a chuckle. Kayode uses a cane to walk. Christiana uses a wheelchair.
She loved the sport from an early age. I liked it even when I was little. and I used to play on the street,” she said in her official bio. I didn’t have a table tennis table in my village. From when I was 7, we used little wooden benches on the street. We played with golf balls using bathroom slippers as racquets. I didn’t know that I could have it as a career.”
A Paralympic Sportsman and a World Champion: Anne Strike and the Road to a Girls’ Academy for Polio victims in Low-Income Countries
The couple went to Paris in hopes of winning a medal. For both of us to be the No.1 in our country, and No.1 in Africa, we can be the No.1 in the world,” Kayode has said. Their goal of a medal did not come true.
Paralympic athletes past and present who survived childhood polio infections often strive to bring awareness to the importance of vaccination and to share insights into their lives as polio survivors. It’s a disease that has been eliminated in the vast majority of the world’s countries due to vaccines but persists in such countries as Afghanistan and Pakistan and has just resurfaced in Gaza.
Anne Strike contracted the disease when she was a child. She says that her family had to flee their village because neighbors believed she was cursed. Strike tells NPR that his family were ostracized because they were afraid what they had would be passed on to other children.
Things changed when Strike was able to attend a boarding school for children with disabilities. She says she felt at home as soon as she got to the school. Do you know why? Because we were all the same. We didn’t stare at one another.”
Strike moved to the UK in 2002 with her first child and was able to attend the Commonwealth Games. There was a Wheelchair racing on her screen. There were women in the chairs pushing hard and I remember vividly how strong Louise was from Australia. I saw Louise’s face I think I want to do that, I saw determination, fierceness, hard work, and a no-nonsense attitude.
“I am mentoring athletes not just in the U.K. but also internationally in low-income countries. We are soon putting an academy together where people from low-income countries can be given opportunities to compete at the really high level in their sport.”
Ex-West Bengal cricketer Sourav Ganguly has been handed a 10-year ban by the BCCI for indulging in anti-social behaviour on a cricket field. Ganguly, who was recently banned for three months, was part of the team that lost to India in the final of the inaugural edition of Indian Premier League in January. He was also suspended for five years by the BCCI.