Ghana’s renowned paralympian, Raphael Botsyo Nkegbe, has expressed his satisfaction in the fourth position at the just-ended World Para Athletics (WPA) championship in Paris.
Botsyo who was the only African in the T54 category, competed in the 100m heat and finished with a time of 14:88 seconds which is his season’s best.
The 42-year-old who is used to competing in long distance races was pleased with the time but believed with more work, he can make it to the Paralympic Games in Paris 2024.
He however, believes the lack of adequate infrastructure could be blamed for his poor outcome and called on the Ministry of Youth and Sports to invest more in athletics tracks for para sports.
Botsyo was of the opinion that this facility would enhance their training and improve their standards to enable them to compete favourably in the upcoming Paralympic Games qualifiers and the Grand Prix before the Games in Paris 2024.
Ghana’s team leader, Henry Larbi, also called for investment in medical and classification for para-athletes which, he said, would help identify potential para-athletes.
He also requested for the acquisition of modern assistive devices used by para-athletes since what they currently use was outmoded.
“There is the need to invest in medical and classification for para-athletes in Ghana which will intend identify potential para-athletes and there should be a policy in acquiring the needed assistive devices used by para-athletes in Ghana since our para-athletes use outmoded para-athletics devices.
Larbi also challenged the government and corporate bodies to buy into the vision of the president of the National Paralympic Committee (NPC), Samson Deen, to development para sports in the country by contributing financially to support that vision.
“Government of Ghana, development organisations and corporate Ghana should financially support the new drive for para sports development by the president of the National Paralympic Committee of Ghana, Samson Deen”.
He said without the requisite investment in para sports it would be very difficult to qualify more para-athletes to the Paralympic Games in Paris next year and called for more support.
“To qualify more para-athletes for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games we need to invest in development of para sports in Ghana”, he stated.
Credit: Graphic Sports
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