•The first batch of the contingent leaves for Brazil on Thursday with the second lot jetting out a couple of days later.
•The success of Team Kenya in special events including the paralympics attests to the heights the country has attained in empowering people living with disabilities and enhancing their full potential.
Image: ANGWENYI GICHANA
Team Kenya are set to depart for the 24th Summer Deaflympics primed for May 1 to 15 in Caxias Do Sul, Brazil.
The first batch of the contingent leaves for Brazil on Thursday with the second lot jetting out a couple of days later.
The 136 athletes who have been camping at Moi Stadium, Kasarani in Nairobi have vowed to make the country proud by striking a masterpiece performance at the special event.
The Kenya Sports Federation of the Deaf (KSFD) president Peter Kalae and Team Kenya chef de mission, Tom Okiki have both pledged a medal haul.
Team Kenya chief executive officer, Sylvia Kamau, said the early departures are meant to afford Kenyan athletes at least a week to acclimatise to the current winter weather in Brazil.
Deaf Athletics Association of Kenya secretary-general, Benard Banja holds on to the conviction that Team Kenya will replicate their impressive run in previous shows.
Indeed, part of the contigent's mission in Brazil is to emulate the stellar show that characterised their participation at the 2013 games where double Deaflympics champion Simon Cherono Kibai shattered the men's 10,000m record while Beryl Atieno Wamira ran away with the women's 200m record.
Other than training their eyes on defending the men's steeplechase record held by Lucas Wandia, Team Kenya will also seek to defend the men's marathon, men's 5000m, and the men's 1500m races.
The country experienced a minor setback though after Team Kenya Chief Liason Officer Miriam Opondo revealed that the badminton team will miss the competition in Brazil.
Kenya skipped the World Championships and the African Championships which were meant to be the qualifiers for the Deaflympics.
Efforts to convince the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf to allow Kenyan players to participate in the games proved futile even after a presentation of video clips of the Kenya badminton team in training and in action.
ICSD said Kenya's standard in the discipline is still very low.
The Deaflympics — also known as Deaflympiad — are a series of multi-sport events sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The games have been organised by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf since the first event in 1924.
The games have transitioned over the years from the World Games for the Deaf and International Games for the Deaf.
There is a special facet to the games given unlike athletes in other events such as the Olympics, the Paralympics, and the Special Olympics, athletes in the Deaflympics cannot be guided by sounds like starting pistols, bullhorn commands, or referee whistles.
Indeed, the government provided a conducive environment for success by catering for their accommodation, allowances, and training gear among other necessities.
The success of Team Kenya in special events including the paralympics attests to the heights the country has attained in empowering people living with disabilities and enhancing their full potential.
Indeed, there is growing need to ensure the rights of the disabled to equal opportunities become a reality.
One way is to entitle them to succeed in sports through adequate provision of training facilities, transport as well as relevant equipment such as wheelchairs.