17-year-old Paralympian Titus Maundu Mwonga is among the athletes who have made it to the final five nominees for the Sportsman Living with Disability Award ahead of the 2023 Sports Personality of the Awards (Soya) Gala set for February 23 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).
Mwonga, who is physically impaired, won a silver medal in the F63 para discus during the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago with a throw of 20m.
The youngster, who is coached by Merab Imai and Michael Omondi also won a medal during the GAPS competition in South Africa before the Youth Games.
The SA Joytown Secondary student is also a two-time national champion in the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association for learners with special needs and also competes in the javelin.
The youngster will, however, face stiff competition from David Ng’ang’a Ngugi (special games), Samson Opiyo (para-athletics), John Njoroge Mukiri (para-athletics) and Kelvin Kipkogei (deaf athletics).
Ngugi was outstanding in the 2023 Special Olympic Games in Berlin, winning two gold medals and a silver in the cycling competition.
The 21-year-old further won gold in the 15km road race with a time of 25:51.66 and the 5km time trial in 06:39.34 before scooping a silver medal in the 5km at the German city.
Ngugi cycles from his home to Karura Forest and the University of Nairobi as part of his training and is looking forward to doing even better in future events.
On his part, Opiyo competed at the 2023 Grand Prix in Marrakech, Morocco and won two gold medals in the 100m T37 race in 12.97 seconds and 200m in 26.50 seconds.
He also won a silver in the T37 long jump with a mark of 5.55m. Mukiri won two gold medals in the 200m T11 race in 25.90 seconds and the 400m T11 race in 56.89 seconds at the Grand Prix in Marrakech.
Kipkogei won two gold medals in the 2023 Africa Deaf Athletics Championship at Kasarani. He won the men’s javelin throw with a championship record of 56.5m and the men’s long jump with a mark of 6.16m.
