The Kenya Deaf Sports Team managed to bag a total of 52 Medals at the just concluded inaugural edition of the Africa Deaf Athletics Championship (ADAC) held at the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani.
The event started on the run from September 16 to 21st . The team took a total of 18gold medals 16 silver medals and 18 Gold Medals cementing their dominance in the field and track event.
The competition saw the participation of over 10 countries namely Algeria, Nigeria Ethiopia, Uganda, Cameroon, Libya, Mozambique, Botswana, Ghana, Mauritius, Botswana, Ethiopia and Zanzibar. The team that represented Kenya in the competition was selected early this year by the Deaf Athletics Association of Kenya (DAAK)
This year’s edition of the tournament will be the first time that Kenya will be staging the competition, Kenya was granted the rights to host the event due to their dominance in the competition. The event was organized in Partnership with the Kenya Deaf Athletics association of Kenya, Athletics Kenya and Ministry of Sports led by Amb Amina Mohamed who led the official launch of the event on the first day of the competition.
The competition was organized at the backdrop of the United Nations International Sign Languages Day that is celebrated on the 23rd of September of every year. Team Kenya fielded 32 men and 20 women in the filed and track categories of the competition.
Some of the categories that included members of team Kenya included 3,000m steeplechase 5,000m,10,000m,1,500m and 100m, 4 by 100 4 by 400 relay races for both men and women.
Paul Simiyu the winner of the 4 by 100 relay finals expressed optimism about his win and his future in the Deaf Athletics competition and future competitions
“I feel like my training has paid off my expectation is to continue running till I retire I will continue training without fear and then move to the next thing so I need to plan for the next” (Clip 008T01)
Kenya Deaf Athletics association of Kenya is an affiliate of Confederation of Africa Deaf Sports a body that is oversighted by the International Committee of Sports of the Deaf (ICSD).
