October 9, 2018 www.mygov.go.ke NEWSFOCUS | 35 Kenya’s Golden Girl of Paralympics Disabled at six years, Mary Nakhumicha found that sports gave her a much-needed pillar of strength that also thrust her into the limelight that comes with success. She is Kenya’s most celebrated Paralympian, having won her first gold medal when she was only 13. She was honoured with the Kenyan Sports Personality of the Year Award in 2008 and also won the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. Her story is excerpted from a forthcoming book, Pioneers &Transformers: The Journeys of Top Achieving Women in Kenya, published by the Kenya Yearbook Editorial Board Pioneers & Transformers Journeys of top achieving women in Kenya BY KYEB M ary Nakhumicha was a playful child. As a little girl growing up in Western Kenya, she enjoyed running around the fields and rural paths with her playmates. Then illness struck and the resulting medical treatment changed her life. Her right leg failed, and her running and jumping were halted. Her joints degenerated and the muscles wasted away. The bubbly six-year-old was reduced to crawling to and from the playground, crippled by a wrongly administered injection to treat pneumonia. Her parents were crushed, resigned to the fate of caring for their suddenly disabled daughter. A few years later, some Catholic nuns on missionary work in western Kenya took Nakhumicha to neighbouring Uganda where there was a free medical camp. A year and three operations later, the 10-year-old stood tall, thanks to a caliper – a metal leg brace strapped around her knee. The joy of walking again warmed her heart, but she was more thrilled at being able to resume school, to play and take part in physical education classes. “With my limited motion, I used sticks as my javelin and threw them as far as I could,” she says, adding that she was the school’s best javelin, shot put and discus thrower. Her parents were very supportive of her athletic pursuits. “They would often take me to the local paraplegic games to compete,” she says. Days off school meant more practice time and before the family knew it, the teenager was picked for a junior competition in the Netherlands, where she proved her worth by winning a bronze medal. At 13, she made her debut at the 1992 Paralympics. She was the youngest member of the team that represented the country in Barcelona, Spain. She believes that taking part in the 1992 games was pivotal in shaping her lengthy and illustrious sporting career. Nakhumicha participated in the women’s discus, shot put and javelin events. She won a gold medal in the javelin competition with a throw of 21.50m, setting a new world record. But her rebirth faced a jolt when her father died and left the huge burden of fending for the family to her stay-athome mum. “My father died in 2002 so I couldn’t continue with my education after primary school. My mother could not afford the school fees,” she says of the still-painful memory. She finds comfort in the fact that her father, Zakayo, had revelled in her achievements, including the three gold medals she won in javelin, shot put and discus at the All Africa Games in Johannesburg, South Africa – a momentous achievement for Kenyan Paralympics. “The All Africa Games in 1999 were amazing! Winning three medals at one event was special. Even today when I look at them (medals) I am overjoyed.” The 14th of 16 children found refuge in sports and decided to move to Nairobi and become a professional athlete to help educate her siblings. Even as a young girl, she had no qualms about wading into completely uncharted territory. “I am the only one who pursued sports in my family. My father was an ardent sports fan even though he never played competitively,” says the tenacious athlete who has always considered sports a career like any other. But it was not easy going into full-time sports because she could not live off it as a semi-professional. Commuting to the Nyayo National Stadium for training sessions was another hassle. But she would not relent. “For me, disability is not a challenge to bear but a challenge I work towards overcoming every day,” she explains, although she does admit that using public transport is not easy. “Our public transport system does not factor in the physically disabled.” She also points out that the disabled often face discrimination in the workplace. Nakhumicha competes in the F57 – a classification for field competitors who have partial trunk and leg function. At the Atlanta Paralympics in 1996, she bagged a silver medal in the javelin and followed it up with a double in Sydney Paralympic Games four years later, retaining her silver in javelin and winning bronze in the shot put. In between the games, Nakhumicha won several gold and silver medals at continental events as part of her preparations for the Beijing Paralympics, where she impressively retained the silver in the javelin. The 2012 games in London offered up a mixed bag of fortunes. She captained the Kenya team – a responsibility she embraced and took very seriously – and set out to play a leading role to reclaim the gold that had eluded her for two decades, despite a difficult training period prior to the games. But London turned out to be one of her worst From my allowances and award payments I have built a house for my mum. I also knit hats after training and sell second-hand clothes..I don’t wait to be helped; I am always chasing opportunities - Mary Nakhumicha WORDS OF WISDOM • Do not be afraid to pioneer in completely uncharted territory. • Possibilities are always boundless, impossible is possible. • Our success has created opportunities for us but more importantly, helped to change the perceptions towards people with disabilities in a positive way. • I don’t wait to be helped. I always chase opportunities. competitions on the field. Her throwing hand hurt and all her lurches fell short, way below even her training performances. For the first time, she was staring at the possibility of leaving the Paralympics without a medal after a similar dry spell in Athens, Greece, in 2004. Her hopes of beating her role model, Paralympic javelin champion Nassima Saifi of Algeria, fell flat. “Prior to London I had a bad experience with an inexperienced masseuse that left me with sore muscles on my throwing hand just weeks to the games,” she recalls. She normally threw 23m, but could barely manage 16m in the javelin. “I felt really bad. I had failed my country on the grand stage,” she says of the disappointment and frustration she felt at the London games. Hours to the close of the games, she was informed that she had been shortlisted for a special award by the International Paralympics Committee (IPC) alongside three other athletes. She did not realise the magnitude of the award until her name was read out as the winner of the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award alongside Ireland’s Michael McKillop. The IPC selected Nakhumicha in recognition of her role in changing the face of Paralympic sports in Africa. According to the sports governing body, her participation over 20 years had exemplified the best spirit of the Paralympic Games and awarded her a gold medal that boosted Kenya’s seven-medal haul from London. “To be recognised as the best player in the world was great! I felt it was a chance to redeem myself, my nation.” The recognition earned her another award when she got back home. She was decorated with the 2012 Kenyan Sports Personality of the Year Award for athletes with disability. This was the second time she was being celebrated after a 2008 ceremony that accorded her a chance to meet her local sporting heroes. “There are two people I really admire. I would like to be like Tegla Loroupe and Paul Tergat. Tegla uses sports to uplift people and spread peace,” she says, adding that Tergat was the founder of the awards that provided the first platform on which Kenyan sportsmen and women could be celebrated. Her awards have come mainly from her prowess on the field but Nakhumicha also plays wheelchair table tennis and is a member of the sitting volleyball and the women’s wheelchair basketball teams. She has also ventured into powerlifting, a form of competitive weightlifting in which contestants attempt to lift three types of weights in a set sequence while seated, because she wanted to compete at the Commonwealth Games, which organise only a limited number of para-sports events. A regular day for Nakhumicha begins with intensive gym sessions lasting about four hours. When competitions are approaching, she includes throwing practice sessions at the stadium. “Before a competition, I train for about 12 months to two years,” she says, explaining that the sacrifice is necessary as the athletes are up against sportsmen and women who are full-time professionals. “The only way to beat them is to train as much as you can.” For Nakhumicha possibilities are always boundless, and the impossible is possible. “From my allowances and award payments I have built a house for my mum. I also knit hats after training and sell second-hand clothes,” she says, adding, “I don’t wait to be helped; I am always chasing opportunities.” She is now taking on a new task – coaching – that she began under the auspices of a local non-government organisation, Action Network for the Disabled, which uses sports to empower disabled people. She believes her experience makes her a good trainer and could make her a top coach in future. She is already a certified Paralympics coach and has worked with about 100 athletes, including the field athletes who competed at the 2011 African Paralympics Championships. Her aim is to find several other Nakhumichas to take her place when she finally quits active competition. She is happy that her success has in some way spurred people with disabilities, especially women, to take up not just athletics but also wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball. “Our success has created opportunities for us but more importantly, helped to change the perceptions towards people with disabilities in a positive way,” she says.
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