London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
London calling Paralympic hopeful Anne Wafula Strike
DREAMS are often self-indulgent, but Anne Wafula Strike has a great chance of her 2012 Paralympic Games vision being fulfilled.
The 42-year-old wheelchair racer, from Willowfield in Harlow, is desperate to be selected for the London showpiece next year.
Wafula Strike, who was born in Nairobi, got the taste for Paralympics after she represented her home country Kenya in 2004 and qualified for the 400m final.
Following her application for British citizenship in 2006, she switched allegiance to Team GB.
She said: “For me to make the Great Britain team will be a big dream come true.
“People might dream of a new car or graduating, but I want to make the team.”
She added: “It would be a privilege. I want to be on the starting line for the games. I have to keep going.”
Strike, who is paralysed from the chest down, trains hard at Mark Hall Sportcentre in Harlow four times a week and is a popular figure there.
She has rounded the season off promisingly and has hit form at just the right time – with Paralympics qualification in the T54 category (an athlete who is completely functional from the waist up), in which she competes, drawing near.
Wafula Strike needs to clock 18.3 seconds in the 100m and 60secs in the 400m.
There will be no 200m event in the T54 category at the 2012 London Paralympics.
Wafula Strike clocked 18.84s in the 100m and 1 min 1.92s at the London Disability Grand Prix at Crystal Palace in August. She later clocked an excellent 17.72s in the 100m at the Swiss Open.
The athlete was pleased with her efforts, but knows things can change.
She said: “I missed out on 2008 [Beijing Paralympics]. I had a shoulder injury. It has made me even hungrier to get picked for the team [in 2012].
“You can have it all and then it is taken away from you.”
Mentally strong and articulate, Wafula Strike is determined to set a good example.
She is acutely conscious of her status as a role model in African countries such as Uganda, Kenya and Malawi.
“They saw this black girl who was doing well and that motivated them to take up wheelchair racing. That is my biggest victory,” she explained.
“Some are on the route to qualifying [for the Paralympics in London 2012]. It will be good to see them.”
She added: “It will be good to see and look at what they have done. It’s like being the farmer and sowing the seed.”
Wafula Strike is hoping to attract some sponsorship to help secure her Paralympics dream. A pair of gloves cost around £120 and a new wheelchair will cost at least £2,000.
There are also travel costs for attending athletics meetings and training, but the athlete has vowed to keep going either way.
Even taxi fares to and from her home to the sports centre cost £80 per week.
She receives excellent support from her husband Norman.
Her experienced coach Ken Day is confident about her prospects.
He said: “She has a strong chance of being selected [for the Paralympics]. She has done very well this year. She is really up for this.”
