PARALYMPICS 2024: Support us as athletes who are competing at the highest level, not as disabled athletes - Noemdo

JOHANNESBURG –  Paralympian Kerwin Noemdo was born with a smaller and deformed right hand due to the umbilical cord wrapping around it in the womb. His right hand was amputated a few months after birth.

The athlete is currently in Paris for his second Paralympic Games and all he hopes for is that para-athletes get the recognition they deserve.

"The Paris 2024 Paralympics will be my second Paralympics. I was at Tokyo 2020 which took place three years ago. So being at my second Games is quite exciting, especially for the fact that in Tokyo, we still had some COVID restrictions, so there were no fans and supporters in the stands," said Noemdo.

The Maties athlete will represent South Africa in the F46 in shot put.

"So my classification is F46. F stands for field, because I do shot put and the 46 basically implies that I have a single upper limb, either amputation or deformity or disability," explained the athlete.

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Talking to Eyewitness News from Paris, Noemdo says he’s excited to experience a hopefully full stadium and loud crowds.

"And that we can soak up the moment and enjoy competition with supporters, as well as my fiancé and friends that are coming over to watch me compete. I'm excited about that. I really just want to embrace the moment and feel the crowd and use the crowd's energy to boost our performances."
 
At the Tokyo Games, the athlete broke the African record and missed out on the podium by 35cm but he is motivated to improve on his fourth position in Paris.

"My hopes for the Paralympics, as a whole, is that we get the recognition and the support that we that we deserve and that we work so hard for, and that it's also not just a hype once every four years, but that we get extra supporters and extra fans that will be fans and supporters along the route for the next four years, every single year, competing up until Los Angeles 2028."

The 2019 Maties Parasport Sportsman won South Africa’s third medal at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships at the Charlety Stadium in Paris.

The Paralympian took home the bronze medal with a commendable effort of 15.30 metres in the men's shot put F46 event.

"My message to South Africans who would like to support athletes during the Paralympic Games would be to firstly, support us as athletes, full stop, not disabled athletes who are participating in the Paralympic games, but rather athletes who are competing on a world stage at the highest level, and give their support in that way."

The 30-year-old has a Postgraduate Diploma in HIV/Aids Management from SU's Africa Centre for HIV/Aids Management. In 2017, he received a BSc degree in Conservation Ecology.

"My mental preparations for competitions have changed over the years. I used to work with sports psychologists, which helped me in the past, but as I've grown and matured and gained years of experience competing internationally, for me, the mental preparation happens at every training session between my coach and myself. When I get to international competitions I have faith and trust the work that we’ve put in to get here which makes the mental preparation easy."

Noemdo has represented the country at three other World Para Athletics Championships in 2013, 2017 and 2019.

The thrower set an African record at the 2022 IWAS Games (the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports World Games) in Portugal and an African record in Gqeberha at the 2021 Toyota SASAPD National Championships.