THE 2020 Toyota National Sport Championships for the Physically Challenged, which will be hosted by Nelson Mandela Bay this year, was launched at the Feather Market Hall last week (February 24).
The championships, which will include numerous sporting codes such as, CP (cerebral palsy) football, para-athletics, para-cycling, goal-ball and para-powerlifting, may see athletes with excellent scores qualify for the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, later this year.
The championships will take place from March 20 to March 25 at Cape Recife School, the Fairview Sports Complex, NMU-athletics track, Newton Park Swimming Pool and Merryvale School, among others.
Bursting with pride, Bay mayor for the interim, Tshonono Buyeye, said that very soon the cream of the crop of South African athletes will descend on Nelson Mandela Bay.
“They will be coming for glory and for a chance to compete at the Paralympics.”
Buyeye looked at three young men, some defending champions in their respective sports, sitting in the front row of the conference, dressed in their green and yellow tracksuits before he continued. “South African athletes always do well at these Paralympics. We are honoured with these champions. They are not only champions once, but they will be champions until they die, so we are truly blessed to have them.”
Jaco Smit (31), the reigning 100m and 400m national athletics champion, who is visually impaired, confidently said that he can’t wait to compete again.
“It will be a great honour to defend my titles, especially against one of the greatest 400m T12-athletes in the country, Hilton Langenhoven,” Smit said excitedly.
He had just returned home a few months ago after competing at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai. He also competed in Switzerland and Italy where he obtained gold and bronze medals respectively.
The 18-year-old Sadha Felix, who excelled in long jump and javelin at the World Para Athletics Junior Championships in Switzerland last year, is also competing in the upcoming national championships. “I am confident that I will do well because I have trained and practised very hard,” he said with a shy smile.
Jean Miggels, a representative of the South African Sports Association for the Physically Disabled (SASAPD), said that these athletes were being given an opportunity to take things to the next level.
“At the championships you are going to witness talent that you have never seen before. They will showcase their talents and there is definitely a lot of talent. Make sure that you don’t miss out,” she added.
Entry is free for all spectators.
