Wesley Sang training at Compiegne Community Stadium in France.
I knocked on his door at Team Kenya camp in Compiegne, France. He had agreed to an interview right after the team’s supper that comprised ugali, goat meat, Sukuma wiki and mala (sour milk).
Team Kenya for the Paris Paralympic Games had carried along the maize floor while Comcop and FitParis, a group of Kenyans in the diaspora led by Weldon Korir, had delivered some Sukuma wiki and the goat meat to the team’s camp.
Then I walk into his shared room that has been converted into an evening prayer room and fellowship.
“Come in my friend…I wanted us to share the word of God before we can settle for the interview. I do have these sessions every evening after dinner,” said Wesley Sang, who then prays for Team Kenya members before dispersing. It's said God’s time is the best.
That statement resonates so well with the deeply religious 30-year-old Sang, who battled for close to a decade to punch his ticket to the Paralympic Games. Sang, who was born in Uasin Gishu county but has lived in the adjacent Trans Nzoia where he bought land, is now on the verge of achieving his Paralympics dream. Sang, the Team Kenya “prayer warrior” is calm and focused on delivering victory in the men's 1,500m T46 at the Paris Paralympics.
“You can prepare well but things can turn otherwise and that is why being prayerful helps a lot. I like sharing the word with the team and the need of putting God first,” said Sang, who is the youth lead at the Full Gospel Church in Trans Nzoia. Sang’s calling came when he was at Mubere Secondary School, Trans Nzoia where he cleared in 2013. “Sang has an interesting story that he rarely talks about.
His efforts to make the 2016 Rio and 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games ended in a controversial manner despite qualifying for the two events,” interjects the athletics team head coach Henry Kirwa. Kirwa, who was Sang’s roommate in Compiegne that is approximately 79.8km from the French capital, is arguably the most successful Kenyan Paralympian with six medals -- four gold and two bronze.
Kirwa said that Sang’s misfortunes started at the 2015 African Games in Congo, Brazzaville where he won the men's 400m final in 49 seconds but was denied victory as the organisers claiming he wasn’t licensed.
“He should not have been allowed to compete in the first place then,” said Kirwa, adding that Sang, who was his pacesetter, changed from 400m to 1,500m in 2016 and won bronze at the Moroccan World Grand Prix.
That performance gained Sang a place in Team Kenya for the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games but strangely enough the athlete was denied to travel without any explanation. “Nobody at the federation cared to explain to Sang what had happened yet he was faster than me in the 1,500m,” said Kirwa, who claimed bronze in the 1,500m T13 in personal best 3:49.59.
“Sang was running 3:49 and yet the winner in that race in Rio, Samir Nouioua from Algeria, won gold in 3:59.46. We missed gold easily,” said Kirwa, who went on to win the men's 5,000m T13 in 14:17.32.
“I attributed that victory to Sang, who was my pacesetter then.” Come the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics, Sang was named in Team Kenya but unfortunately fell sick after getting the second jab for Covid-19.
However, Kenya National Paralympic Committee then conducted another trial in camp two days after Sang had re-joined the camp.
“Efforts to have Sang exempted from trials since he was our fastest athlete fell on deaf ears and that is how it ended. Sang collapsed after finishing the race,” explained Kirwa, adding that he is the happiest man after Sang qualified for the Paris Games.
Sang clocked 3:49.59 to finish fourth during the 2023 Paris World Para Athletics Championships where the top four finishers in all the categories gained direct tickets to the Paris Games.
“I have told him this is the right time for him and that God has a purpose for him in Paris,” said Kirwa.
Sang recalled the two episodes as terrible and worst moments an athlete can face. “All in all, I gave praise to God. I never let them bog me down,” said Sang, who is in praise of the current KNPC office saying they listen and respond to athletes’ issues.
