By Barrie Alpha
Para athletes, that will represent Sierra Leone in the Tunis Athletics Grand Prix, have, on Wednesday March 3rd 2021, gone to camp at the Patjul Hotel after months of hectic training at the Siaka Steven Stadium.
The Grand Prix travels from the Middle East to Africa for the 13th Edition of the most traditional Para athletics event in the continent. The Tunisia-Tunis International Meeting will commence on the 13th-21th March 2021.
In his brief statement, at the Siaka Steven Stadium before the Para athletes’ departure to their Patjul Camp, the President of the Sierra Leone Paralympic Association, Unisa Deen Kargbo (UDK), said the Tunis Athletics Grand Prix is where the Para athletes will have to qualify for the Tokyo Paralympics Games in August 2021.
He said the Para athletes have undergone hectic training in the past months and are now well prepared to represent the Sierra Leone in the Tunis Athletics Grand Prix.
Advising the Para Athletes, the Association’s Vice President, Madam Zainab Suma, said the athletes must take into consideration that they are going as ambassadors of this nation, so they have to be disciplined and make sure that they stay focused and safe.
Mohamed Kamara, the national coach of the Para athletes who happens to be a former Para Athletes, on behalf of the athletes and the Para family, thanked stadium staff and the ministry, the Paralympics Association and the Women and Sports for their support during their training sessions. He underscored that, as an athlete, he took Sierra Leone to India and qualified the country again to the Rio Paralympics Games 2012 and also took Sierra Leone to the All African Games in Congo.
He said, after making his mark as an athlete, the President of the Federation, UDK, advised him to leave the track to become a coach, which he did.
“I want to assure you people here that with my athletes are going to Tunisia and we are going to come with laurels for this country. Our preparation is for Tokyo; we are going to Tunisia to collect our prizes and we want to make the mark in the Tokyo Paralympics Games and fly the Green, White and Blue higher.