OLUWAFUNMILAYO Olasunkanmi, a T12 bronze medallist at the 2014 Fazaa International Athletics competition, says sports give hope to special athletes in the society.

Olasunkanmi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Thursday that a lot of such individuals (special athletes) in the society had been written off.

She was reacting to how special athletes were treated in the community,

T11 to T13 category is for athletes that are visually-impaired.

She said that sports had made a lot of special athletes to gain recognition and had also given them a new status.

“A lot of people, even parents discouraged their physically-challenged children to participate in sports. I want to appeal to parents to stop this habit because there is something for everyone in sports.

“A lot of people have written off special athletes but participating in sports has given us a new name and has made us important personalities, ’’she said.

Olasunkanmi said that through sports, she had been able to cater for her family, saying that she coached the Vocational Training Centre for the Blind (VTC) during the school’s inter-house sports.

“Sport has made me the breadwinner of my family because I get coaching jobs to coach special athletes, ‘’ she said.

-NAN

BE

– Mar. 21, 2019 @ 13:40 GMT |