The summer of sport actions continues with the Paris 2024 Paralympics taking centre stage from August 28 to September 8 in Paris.
Thousands of para-athletes will converge in the French capital to compete for top honours, bragging rights and to rewrite history in their respective sports events.
Afrosport previews the top African stars to keep tabs on when the Paralympics begins with an opening ceremony on Wednesday, August 8.
Samwel Mushai Kimani
Kimani is a visually impaired middle-distance runner for Kenya and a double paralympic champion.
He dominantly competes in the men’s 5000m and 1500m T11 classification, and he won gold in the men’s 1500m T11 at the London 2012 Paralympics, then followed it with another gold medal in the men’s 5000m T11 at Rio 2016 Paralympics.
Raoua Tlili
34-year-old represents Tunisia in the category F41 shot put and F41 discus events. Tlili heads to Paris with multiple world records in the field events she features in.
She holds the Paralympic record in F41 shot put with 10.19 metres and the Paralympic world record in F41 discus with 33.38 metres.
Tlili won Olympic gold medals in the F41 shot put and discus throw events at the Tokyo 2020 and Rio 2016 Paralympics and she is primed to extend her dominance in Paris.
Ntando Mahlangu
Mahlangu shoulders South Africa’s aspiration for medals in the men’s para-athletics.
He made his first appearance at the Paralympics in Rio 2016 as a T42-classified athlete and he claimed silver medal in the men’s 200m T42 event as a 14-year-old.
A switch in his classification by the World Para Athletics in 2018 from T42 to T61 – a class for athletes with double above-the-knee amputation has come in good fortune for the 22-year-old.
At Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, Mahlangu won gold in the men’s long jump T63 and also dominated the men’s 200m T61 with his second Paralympics gold.
Folashade Oluwafemiayo
Oluwafemiayo is the Paralympic champion in the women’s 86kg and Commonwealth Games champion in the women’s heavyweight category.
Oluwafemiayo is a three-time world champion in the women’s 86kg in the para-powerlifting event after winning gold in 2017 (Mexico), 2019 (Kazakhstan) and 2021 (Georgia).
She heads to Paris with a world record of 152.5kg in the women’s 86kg para-powerlifting event.
Flora Ugwunma
Ugwunwa represents Nigeria in the women’s javelin throw F54 classification which includes athletes with spinal cord injuries.
She made a statement at Rio 2016 Paralympics when she set a new world record of 20.25m to win gold in the women’s javelin throw F54 event.
The 40-year-old is among the oldest athletes that will fly Nigeria’s flag in the French capital from Wednesday.
You can watch the Paris 2024 Paralympics opening ceremony LIVE on Afrosport TV on Free TV, channel 730 in Nigeria or stream for FREE here, from 6pm (Nigerian Time) on Wednesday, August 8.
