No more hiding (nd current)

“I already said to my mother,” the adolescent begins to tell: “I don’t need a medal. To be here is incredible. Ever since I moved to the athletes’ village, I feel as if I have achieved everything. «Husnah Kukundakwe wants to make new friendships among the athletes. In the canteen and outside in the courtyard in the athletes’ village, she dares now and then to speak to one of the adults. “I just want to have fun here,” says the 14-year-old.

When you first listen, the words don’t sound like a teenage girl. Instead of wanting to conquer the world at the world’s largest disabled sports event, Husnah Kukundakwe prefers to stack deep. The swimmer, who was born without a right forearm and with a malformation of her left hand, has just started high school in her native Uganda. She is the youngest participant in the Tokyo Paralympic Games.

However, it can already be guessed that Husnah Kukundakwe could have a great career ahead of him. She made her international debut two years ago at the World Swimming Championships in London. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) also apparently sees great potential in it. At a press conference shortly before the opening ceremony, where some outstanding personalities from these games were to be introduced, Kukundakwe was among the illustrious selection.

With her sit the long jumper Markus Rehm, who can fly further than any Olympic athlete, as well as the Mexican series world record holder in weightlifting Amalia Pérez. The Japanese Shoka Ota, who already won medals at the Winter Games in skiing and is now taking part in the Paralympic premiere of Taekwondo, is also present. There is also the American Matt Stutzman, a well-known archer in parasports, and the gold medalist in fencing, Bebe Vio from Italy. Both are protagonists in the worldwide Netflix documentary “Rising Phoenix” about disabled sports. “I feel like I’m meeting movie stars,” says Husnah Kukundakwe, who sits between Stutzman and Vio, and has to laugh at herself. “Of course I already took a selfie as proof.”

Even if Stutzman and Vio are not swimmers like the young woman from Uganda, they were an inspiration for Kukundakwe to feel good in their bodies. “The sport and such role models have helped me not to want to hide my hand anymore. I don’t care how other people see me now. “

The 14-year-old has evidently become a source of inspiration for others herself. At school in her home town of Kampala, the capital of Uganda, she has become something of a celebrity since participating in the World Cup in London. When she returned home from her first major tournament in 2019, she was suddenly approached by strangers. “People I had never seen said, ‘Hi! I saw you on TV. You’re so cool! ‹« For Kukundakwe, who had often found herself uncool before, sport has changed the world.

And maybe not just for them. “In Uganda there are only a few people who have a disability and who show it,” says Kukundakwe, who, she says, would never have developed her love for her own body without swimming. She also wants to convey this to others, but not many disabled people in Uganda have had similar experiences. Husnah Kukundakwe is only the second swimmer from Uganda to take part in the Paralympics and the first in more than 20 years. In total, there are only three other athletes from the East African developing country in Tokyo.

In general: Because of the high cost of equipment, poorer countries are chronically underrepresented at the Paralympic Games. This, in turn, is a topic on which the young Husnah Kukundakwe is confident enough to make clear statements. “Swimming is expensive, like other sports. My parents had to struggle financially so that we could pay entry to a good swimming pool and a good coach. «She has already received grants from foundations for traveling to tournaments. But long-term training and planning is difficult this way.

Obviously, she hardly got anything from the state. “I think governments in all countries should support us parasports. Otherwise it just doesn’t feel fair. «In the future, Husnah Kukundakwe and her family would like to set up a foundation that supports parasports. But for that to be possible, she first has to achieve some success herself. She could lay the foundation for it on Thursday. Then Husnah Kukundakwe starts over 100 meters chest.