Havana.- THE MULTI-CHAMPION Cuban Omara Durand officially appears among the candidates to be part of the new Athletes Council of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), which will be elected during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Never before had this list had 26 candidates, since until now the limit had been set at 22 with the candidates voted in the editions of Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020. The data is another example of how much the sports movement has grown. for people with disabilities.
At the Paris event, all competitors will have the right to vote for their representatives – six seats. According to the schedule ratified by IPC on its website, the forms will be available between August 26 and September 5 in spaces in the event’s accommodation village.
Those chosen will be announced at the closing ceremony of Paris 2024 and will join the three para-athletes who were confirmed during the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.
“It would be a great honor to be selected for the second time as a member of the IPC Athletes’ Council,” Omara assured HIT, after knowing the inclusion of his name among those who opt for one of the positions.
Omara was a member of the Council elected during the Tokyo 2020 event and assured that the experience made her grow as a person and as an athlete.
The universal queen of the 100, 200 and 400 meters, in the T12 category, especially defended topics of great interest to the Latin American exponents and took advantage of the meetings with other members to transmit to them the realities and achievements of Cuba in its constant support for sport for people. in a situation of disability.
“If I am among those selected again, I will assume this period with great responsibility, to continue contributing positive ideas that contribute to the progress of the Paralympic movement,” added the Santiago native, also a deputy of the National Assembly of People’s Power.
The Athletes Council acts as the voice of the community of para-athletes and by regulation, its president and first vice-president are members with voting rights on the IPC Governing Board.
The Dutch wheelchair basketball player Jitske Visser assumed the presidency of the Council during the period about to expire, but is not running for re-election, so the next leader will be elected during the meeting of the now elected members , which will be held in the last quarter of the current year.
Among the 26 candidates, 12 women appear, a dozen parasports are represented. As an essential requirement, all applicants must participate in the Paris 2024 Games, or have competed in the two previous editions.
THE CANDIDATES
Saif Alnuaimi (United Arab Emirates/parashooting); Najwa Awane (Morocco/wheelchair tennis); Mariska Beijer (Netherlands/wheelchair basketball); Martina Caironi (Italy/parathletics); Lenine Cunha (Portugal/parathletics); María Delgado Nadal (Spain/para-swimming); Iaroslav Denysenko (Ukraine/paraswimming); Simon Detmer (USA/parathletics); Omara Durand Elías (Cuba/parathletics); Luca Anna Ekler (Hungary/parathletics); Chan Daniel Ho Yuen (Hong Kong/para-badminton); Ayao Severin Kansa (Togo/parathletics); Vladyslava Kravchenko (Malta/paraswimming); Husnah Kukundakwe (Uganda/paraswimming); Leomon Moreno da Silva (Brazil/goalball); Tania Nadarajah (Great Britain/parking); Zahra Nemati (Iran/pararchy); Sherif Osman (Egypt/parapesas); Benjamin Pritchard (Great Britain/para-rowing); Charles Rozoy (France/para-swimming); Mario Ernesto Sayes (El Salvador/boccia); Denise Schindler (Germany/paracycling); Fatmir Seremeti (Sweden/goalball); Takayuki Suzuki (Japan/para-swimming); Yujiao Tan (China/parapesas); Yoomin Won (Republic of Korea/wheelchair basketball).
