Tanzania to send 14 athletes for the Summer Olympic Games

DAR ES SALAAM: TANZANIA has been cleared to deploy 14 athletes with intellectual disabilities to compete in the upcoming 2027 Special Olympics World Summer Games set in October in Santiago, Chile.

This was confirmed by Special Olympics Tanzania National Director Charles Rays during the Media Training event held at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam recently.

He said procedures to get a competitive team to represent the country during the games will begin soon, and that the selection will cover the whole nation.

“We have been told to send 14 athletes who will compete in the 5-aside female Unified Football, Swimming, as well as in Athletics.

“However, we take this opportunity to request stakeholders to come forward and render a supporting hand, as we will be requiring important things like air tickets from Dar es Salaam to Santiago, Chile.

“Also, we will require uniforms for the entire team, not forgetting resources to enable the team to pitch an eight-week camp before travelling to the battlefield,” he said.

He however pointed out that Tanzania is blessed with talented athletes who just need to be empowered for them to shine in whatever competition they engage in.

Furthermore, in a related development, Rays disclosed that Special Olympics Tanzania is preparing to introduce two new sporting disciplines, namely Floorball and Badminton.

“For the Floorball, we plan to invite a specialist of this sport from Kenya to come here and train at least 30 coaches for them to train our athletes in different parts of the country,” he said.

Asked whether the country has enough infrastructures to allow Floor ball be played at ease, he replied that the incoming specialist will also declare in details about the demand of the sport.

“During the training, we also plan to invite representatives from the National Sports Council (NSC) so that they can be aware about it and hear on the recommendations to be made,” he said.

On Badminton, he explained that they will put in place good measures on how athletes can start playing it in a competitive manner.