SA all set for the Paralympics
A 45-STRONG South African team heads off to Rio this week to take part in the Paralympics from September 7 to 18.
The Western Cape’s 18 athletes leave for Johannesburg tomorrow to meet the rest of the team.
Among the medal hopefuls are world No 1 javelin champion Reinhardt Hamman, long jumper Mpumelelo Mhlongo and world paracyclist champion Ernst van Dyk, all Capetonians.
The Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee said the team would compete in archery, athletics, canoeing, cycling, equestrian events, powerlifting, rowing, swimming, shooting and tennis. The athletics code will have the strongest representation of 19 athletes, followed by swimming and cycling, with six competitors each.
Van Dyk will be competing in his seventh successive Paralympic Games after first having represented team South Africa in Barcelona, 1992. He has competed in three disciplines: athletics, cycling and swimming.
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Fellow athlete Zanele Situ will be competing in her fifth Paralympics.
Delighted first-time Paralympians cannot wait to get to Brazil and bring home medals.
Hamman, who was born with cerebral palsy, said his dream had finally been realised. “This is a dream come true for me. I have been preparing for the past 13 years. This is a great honour. I will make sure I bring back gold. I will not disappoint my country,” he said.
Mpumelelo Mhlongo, a final-year chemical engineering student at UCT, is a sprinter and a long jumper who suffered amniotic band syndrome after his right leg was injured while running in 2009. He said he was nervous as the the event drew closer. “I’ve been preparing since 2014. I will try by all means to bring a medal or two.”
Western Cape Paralympians spokesperson Vivienne Hamman said Team SA was looking to bringing more medals than the 29 won at the 2012 London Olympics.
“WP is proud to have five coaches in the team. As Capetonians, we are very excited to see there is progress. Our Team SA may have surprises in store for us.
“Let’s get behind our team, give them all the support they deserve,” she said, adding that a special sendoff is planned for the WP Paralympic Team at the Cape Town International Airport at 11.15am tomorrow.