Uganda Paralympic team inspired by warm welcome in London

By Norman Katende

Team Uganda  athletes and officials have been inspired by the welcome ceremony they received Monday evening ahead of start of the Paralympic Games on Wednesday.

They promise to see to it that the Uganda national anthem is played again during the event.

The team donned the traditional Kanzu and Gomesi in a ceremony that was held at the Paralympics international welcome zone in Stratford, London.

To the Ugandan athletes whose excitement was clear as their national anthem was being played, it was the perfect inspiration to exhibit winning ways so that the country’s anthem is played again during the course of the events.

Uganda has only two participants in this year’s Paralympic games.

“It was good listening to our national anthem being played. It makes us proud and we will fight to see that we hear it often, said Christine Akullo.

She is set to carry Uganda’s flag at the opening ceremony of the Games that is due Wednesday evening.

The athlete and team officials were joined by the Ugandans living in London, including former Atlanta 1996 Olympian Grace Birungi.

The visitors joined David Emong and three officials who marched from their hall of residence to the welcome centre where they exchanged pleasantries with the village mayor and the raised the Uganda flag.

Uganda Paralympics President Bumali Mpiima said that they appreciate whatever they have brought as it is the preparations and not the numbers that will win the Ugandan team medals.

Four athletes qualified but two of them could not make it to London as they had not yet been classified under which category they would compete in.

“We would have had even more athletes here. We had 17 athletes that we felt they would be qualifying but we could only get funds for five athletes to qualify. In the five who went, four hit the qualifying mark,” explained Bumali before calling on the nation to support the team.