NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 15 – The Kenya Para Powerlifting team is confident of booking a slot to the upcoming Tokyo Paralympic Games in Japan when they take center stage in the World Cup that also serves as the qualifiers in Dubai.
The team of two comprising of Hellen Wawira and Joyce Njuguna departed the country on Tuesday night ahead of the competition that will be held from June 19-24 and teams are expected to arrive from Wednesday ready in time for the quarantine ahead of the event.
Speaking after the team’s last training on Monday at the Utalii College, head coach, Lena Nyaboke Marita gave assurance that the two will qualify since they are highly ranked in the world with Wawira sitting 2nd overall in the world while Joyce occupies 5th spot.
“We have been training for long period of time and we continue training, we thank the government through the ministry of sports for facilitation of the bubble camp at Utalii. It has helped us sharpen our skills so that when we go to the competition we perform well. We are well prepared and I am confident Joyce and Helllen are ready and they will qualify,” the coach said.
She added, “I tell the athletes to work hard because everybody is working hard too to qualify for the Paralympics, I believe in my team because if you look at my athletes, Hellen is ranked second in the world while Joyce is fifth in the world. This is the last event we are competing in and I believe they will maintain the rankings.”
