Sports gave hope to the Paralympians who had a vaccine for a disease

Kayode and Christiana Alabi: Two of their first Paralympics stars – playing table tennis in their village (Nigeria)

Kayode and Christiana Alabi have a lot in common. As children in Nigeria, they contracted the disease that would later kill them. They played table tennis. They met at national table tennis trials in 2017, fell in love and married in 2022. And now they’re competing in their first Paralympics.

She was drawn to the sport from an early age. “I loved it, even when I was very little and I used to play on the street,” she said in her official bio. “There was no table tennis table in my village. We used to use wooden benches on the street. We played with golf balls using bathroom slippers as racquets. I did not know I could have it as a career.

The “Lion King” and her “Adulator” Kayode, a Paralympian and Disability Advocate, and a Mentor and Coach

The couple traveled to Paris for a chance to medal. Kayode’s nickname is the “Lion King” because of his aggressive style of play, and he believes that both of them can be the number one in the world. Their dream of a medals did not come true.

A life-threatening disease caused by aviruses and affects the nervous system, Polo is spread from one person to another through stool or droplets from a sneeze. A person is considered contagious for up to six weeks after infection.)

Paralympian wheelchair racer and disability advocate Anne Wafula Strike contracted polio as a child in Kenya. Her family had to flee their village because they believed she was cursed. “They tried to burn down my dad’s mud hut,” Strike tells NPR, “We were ostracized for fear that what I had would be passed to other children.”

Strike received medical treatment and rehabilitation after moving to the capital city. She still faced a lot of stigma even though she wanted to play with other little girls.

In 2004, Strike became the first Kenyan wheelchair racer to compete in the Paralympics at the Athens Games. This year, she is in Paris as a mentor and coach helping athletes from multiple countries.

“I am mentoring athletes not just in the U.K. but also internationally in low-income countries. We are soon putting an academy together where people from low-income countries can be given opportunities to compete at the really high level in their sport.”