Para discus thrower Olero rues poor competition shoes

In Birmingham

She came to Birmingham with high hopes.

Nothing could have distracted her from hauling herself to the medal bracket, having ticked all her boxes during training in Kenya.

Kenya’s para discus thrower Sylvia Atieno Olero was managing between 28 metres to 30 metres in training at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.

However, Olero, 43, could only manage a personal best 26.35m to settle seventh during the women’s discus F42-44/61-64 final at the Alexander Stadium on Thursday night.

It’s Nigerian Goodness Chiemerie Nwachukwu, who hauled a World Record distance of 36.56m to win gold as Sarah Edmiston from Australia managed 34.96m to settle for silver.

“It could have been better if I didn’t face some challenges,” said Olero, who didn’t have the right competition shoes.

“I wasn’t confident when throwing since I feared I could lose balance and fall down. The competition circle here was slippery with the kind of shoes I had,” said Olero, who wore the normal training shoes.

“I appealed for proper shoes but was told to use the ones I have. It’s quite disappointing since I knew I could have performed well if the shoes had some grip,” said Olero.

Olero said that she will now use her allowances from the Games to purchase proper shoes. “I can’t wait now with several internationals coming soon.

Olero said she will prepare well for next year’s World Para Athletics Championships in Paris in a bid to seek automatic qualification to 2024 Paralympic Games. 

“A medal bracket performance will earn me a direct entry to the Paris Olympics and that is my dream,” explained Olero, who, nevertheless, was happy coming through with a personal best from Birmingham.