Mphatso Saukile in action during Jesolo Grand Prix in Venice last year
* The four Mphatso Saukile (T12 athlete); Taonele Banda (T13); Moses Misoya (T13) and Estere Nagoli (T12)
* Malawi’s first participation at the Games through qualification rather than a special invitation
Maravi Express
Malawi will be represented by four Paralympic athletes at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 and are expected to enter into a training camp on Monday, July 1, at the Malawi Paralympic Center (MPC) in Lilongwe.
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The Paralympic Games in France are scheduled from August 28 to September 8 and the four athletes include Mphatso Saukile, a T12 athlete — who will compete in the 400 and 1500-meter distances as well as Taonele Banda, a T13 athlete competing in the 400m and 1500m.
The other two are Moses Misoya, a T13 athlete competing in the 200m and 400m and Estere Nagoli, a T12 athlete competing in the 200m and 400m distances — with Charles Luciano to serve as a guide for the T12 athletes.
A statement from Malawi National Council of Sports says this will mark Malawi’s first participation at the Games through qualification rather than a special invitation, following Mphatso Saukile’s gold medal performance at the 2022 African Union Sports Council Region 5 Youth Games and TaoneLe Banda’s qualification time of 1:07.95 at the World Para-Athletics Grand Prix tournament in Marrakech, Morocco earlier this year.
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Saukile represented the country in Venice, Italy at the Jesolo Grand Prix from May 12-15, 2023 where he won the silver medal in 1500m and came 5th in 400m in Open-aged competition.
Towards the end of 2023, Saukile won two gold medals in 1500m and 400m during the Paralympic National Championships held at Bingu National Stadium.
Ahead of the camp, Malawi Paralympic president James Chiutsi expressed gratitude to the Sports Council and K2 Transformers for their support, saying: “The camp will help the athletes improve their times and aim for a medal at the games.
“During the camp, the athletes will also compete against mainstream athletes to better prepare themselves,” Chiutsi said.
The athletes will be under the guidance of head coach Agnes Chikwawa and assistant coach John Kayange during the 48-day camp before departure for Paris scheduled on August 21 and returning on September 11, 2024.
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