New Delhi, Sep 29 Salum Ageze Kashafali stole the show on the second day of the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday. The muscular Norwegian set a new world record as he crossed the line in 10.42 seconds in the men’s 100m T12.
It was his third gold medal in the World Para Athletic Championships. He had also won the gold medal in the Tokyo Paralympics. That was also a record-breaking dash.
Clearly, he is an accomplished man. But if one delves into his life journey, his achievements take on the hue of the supernatural -- in a manner of speaking. Kashafali was actually born in Congo, but due to the civil war there, he had to find refuge in a couple of countries before finally settling in Norway.
“Along with my parents and six siblings, we first moved to Rwanda and then to Tanzania, where we stayed for a year in a refugee camp, and then Norway chose to take us in 2003, and I was 10 at the time,” he told SAI Media on Monday.
“Norway was a totally different experience for me. It felt like we came to safety; we could go to school, we could pursue an athletic career. It was a whole different world altogether,” he added.
But Norway wasn’t a Utopian experience by any means at the start of his stay there. “There was a lot of racism in the school. We got beaten up by our schoolmates. We were asked to leave the country. To them, we didn’t belong there.
“All this happened in Vadso, and then we raised a request that either move us to a different city or we will go back to Congo. They accepted our request, and then we moved to Bergen, where things were better,” Kashafali said.
If you thought that was the end of all troubles for the sprinter, think again. Ten years ago, at the age of 22, a genetic disorder, Stargardt’s disease, took away most of his ability to see. After a terribly depressing phase, Kashafali finally pulled himself together and switched to a para-athletic career, and he has set the events ablaze all over the world.
Kashafali, first time in India, admitted he was so moved by the hospitality of the Indian people. “There is a lot of positive vibes in India. People are friendly. It pretty much feels like home, I mean, Congo. In Norway, people keep to themselves, but in Congo, it’s like India, people are friendly and willing to help each other,” he said.
Kashafali, who intends to go back to Congo in 2028 after the Los Angeles Paralympics, was also impressed with the iconic JLN stadium in New Delhi. “It’s one of the best stadiums I have seen. Food here is also very good. Very flavourful. Delhi is a bit hot, but overall, it’s been a very pleasant experience,” he concluded.
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