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African para-athletes praise Commonwealth Games inclusivity
African para-athletes praise Commonwealth Games inclusivity
The inclusive nature of the Commonwealth Games' integrated schedule is helping to change African attitudes towards disability, according to some of the continent's leading para-athletes.
Unlike the Paralympics there is no separate event for para-sports at the Games, meaning medals won by disabled and non-disabled competitors contribute equally to a nation's tally.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe process began in Manchester in 2002, helping to make it the first fully inclusive international multi-sport Games, with para events taking place during the same sessions as non-disabled ones.
"Sport really is a huge pusher for change," swimmer Husnah Kukundakwe, who is Uganda's team captain in Glasgow, told BBC World Service.
"It shows that para-swimming or para-sport just deserves the same kind of recognition, funding, sponsoring."
These Games were originally supposed to be held in the Australian state of Victoria, before it dropped out in July 2023 due to funding issues. With Glasgow stepping in as a slimmed down replacement, 10 sports have been cut from the schedule.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDespite that, a record 47 para events will take place across six of the 10 sports which remain.
"We are able to showcase what we are able to do and our sports also," said Mauritian wheelchair racer Noemie Alphonse.
"We are seen as on the same level.
"For the Commonwealth Games, and mostly for all Games now, everyone follows us on TV, sending good comments, good messages and encouraging us.
"We are really happy that the mindset changed and they are seeing that we are able to contribute to our country."
'It's all about what I can do'
Amazingly, given she is only 19, Kukundakwe is now something of a veteran at major competitions, having made history as the youngest athlete at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics when she was just 14 years old.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementShe subsequently took part in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and was then Uganda's flag bearer at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
"Making history is always a big honour, especially for Uganda," she said, looking back at her Paralympic debut in Japan.
"It was a huge deal when we went back home and it kind of opened up the world of para-sport to Ugandan people, and it made big changes in terms of the support that para-sport gets from government."
Kukundakwe, who was born with no lower right arm, will compete in the 100m freestyle S9 and 100m breaststroke SB8 categories.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn para-swimming, the letter S is used to denote freestyle and SB breaststroke, while the numbers 1-10 are used for athletes with a limb impairment. The lower the number, the more severe the impairment.
The teenager readily admits that her sport has changed her life.
"Swimming really built up my confidence. Before I was swimming, I would always wear long sleeves or sweaters, even when it's a very, very hot day, to try and hide my hand.
"But ever since I started swimming, a sport which requires you to pretty much be open, I started to feel more comfortable with myself. And eventually I found out that it doesn't really matter what I look like. It's all about what I can do."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementKukundakwe is hoping to secure Uganda's first ever swimming medal, targeting the podium in the breaststroke.
And she is not alone, with Alphonse also looking to secure her first Commonwealth medal, having finished sixth in the 1500m T54 four years ago.
This time, she will go in the same event and the 400m T54.
"I remember when I won the first medal for the [2023] World Championships in Paris (silver in the 100m T54), the mindset completely changed in Mauritius," she explained.
"Many youngsters with disability and parents also were really inspired through what I did. My team-mates now are those who saw me on TV."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn a sign of how far things have come, the first gold medal handed out at these Games went to a para-athlete for the first time, as England's Mark Swan won the men's lightweight category in the powerlifting, with Nigeria's Roland Ezuruike taking silver.
Tahiru Haruna, a former arm wrestler who turned to powerlifting in 2017, was hoping to land Ghana's second ever Commonwealth medal won in a para-sport but finished seventh in the heavyweight event.
Despite that personal disappointment, he agrees athletes like him have the power to inspire disabled people in Africa.
"In Ghana, I always go to schools [and] on streets teaching about sports, against stigma, trying to tell them that you can play sports.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"Back in schools in Ghana they don't allow [the] physically challenged to partake in sports, so we try to teach PE teachers to get them involved.
"Everything is inclusion, we don't need to separate us."
'It would be wow, just wow'
In some sports, para-athletes represent the best route to success for African nations.
A dominant Nigeria, for example, claimed three golds and three silvers in the para-powerlifting on day one in Glasgow.
Kukundakwe points out that, until her appearance in Tokyo, no Ugandan swimmer had ever qualified for either the Olympics or Paralympics.
Now the country has sent nine swimmers to these Games, five women and four men. Kukundakwe and Condoleeza Nakazibwe are the team's two para-swimmers.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"It doesn't make sense for me to open up doors and only I am able to walk through them. I want there to be more para-swimmers," said Kukundakwe.
"Ever since I started becoming more and more active in swimming, it's brought it to the [public's] attention.
"The perceptions of people with disabilities and the funding towards para-sport in Uganda really has changed. There is more support towards even disability initiatives and accessibility in the buildings that are being constructed."
Uganda has won 58 medals since first taking part in the Commonwealth Games in 1954. All have come in either athletics or boxing.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhat does Kukundakwe think will happen if she achieves her aim of a first swimming medal?
"I don't even know how I think I'd react. It would be wow, just wow.
"For Uganda, [the] Commonwealth Games is one of the big, big, big sporting events that's highly recognised.
"I'll be able to make my country proud."
Interviews carried out by BBC World Service's Ed Harry and Lee James.