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Journalism of Courage
It’s minutes after 31-year-old Salum Ageze Kashafali broke the men’s 100 metre T12 world record with a timing of 10.42 seconds at the World Para Athletics Championships at Jawaharlal Stadium, but the Democratic Republic of Congo native and now Norwegian citizen is still at a loss for words.
Back in 2003, the then 10-year-old had escaped along with his family from civil war-torn Congo and lived in refugee camps before taking refuge in Norway.
The T12 classification is for athletes with visual impairment, who have some residual sight but are totally blind. Kashafali was diagnosed with Stargardt disease in 2017, which causes progressive vision loss. A former maths teacher, Kashafali is also the second fastest Paralympic athlete across categories. His 10.37 seconds from last year is only bettered by five-time world champion Brazil’s Petrucio Ferreira’s 10.29 seconds. Ferreira’s T12 classification is for athletes with a single arm impairment below the elbow or a unilateral upper limb impairment that affects the shoulder, elbow, and wrist.
On Sunday, when Kashafali waved the Norwegian flag his eyes swelled up.
“I come from Congo and had lived in a small town called Goma. I was just a normal slum person. Grew up in underground shelters and later a small house. There were times when I went for weeks without eating much and that’s my first ten years in this world. And then I spent one year at the refugee camp and came to Norway. Winning the title here… I don’t know how to put it. God has been favouring me and he has gotten me here. I don’t know what to say. I get emotional talking about this,” Kashafali told The Indian Express.
When Kashafali was diagnosed with Stargardt disease, it kept him out of action for almost a year. “My parents had the condition and it was more like I would get it. But people have this condition between the ages of 8-12 years. But in my case it was completely different. A day prior, I was studying and playing and training and when I woke up, I struggled in seeing things clearly. At first I thought it was due to training but then I called my neighbour and he called the ambulance believing there was some issue with my heart. But then they confirmed the condition. For almost six weeks, I felt ashamed of myself. I just kept to myself and lied to people avoiding contact,” Kashafali recalled.
It was only after he heard of Paralympic champion Jason Smyth of Ireland, who also suffered from Stargardt disease, that Kashafali was convinced to compete at the Para Grand Prix in Nottwil, Switzerland. “I was very hesitant to go back to the track. It took me one year to come to my senses. But then I told myself you have been through war (Civil war) and other difficulties. But then I made a pact with my coach that we will go about the training and to show people (what he is capable of). Initially I struggled a bit as it was very difficult to prepare and navigate. I had a little bit of side vision and I used side vision to navigate and learned how to read the surroundings in a better way,” Kashafali added.
He won the title in Tokyo Paralympics in the T12 category before he was crowned T13 100m world champion in 2023 and 2024 and followed those triumphs by winning silver in the men’s 100m T13 final in Paris Paralympics with a timing of 10.46 seconds. Kashafali would also talk about the significance of Sunday’s world title in his life. “Well I am the world’s fastest (in his category).. This world title is epic. I was in good shape last December but then post the injury, all I did was swimming. I did not think I would make it to the worlds here. But my team worked with me and I could win the title”.
Coach Stephan Johansson has been working with the sprinter for the last three and a half years. At Oslo, Kashafali also trains with able-bodied athletes with an aim to keep improving. “Well Kashafali can only see things close to 2 meters and rest if blurry and he cannot see clearly. He also runs in 200m but in those events, he struggles a bit with the curves. He always sees 100m as his strength and to see him win the title feels special for the whole contingent and will act as motivation,” Johansson said.
After breaking the world record, Kashafali has his eyes now set on the LA Olympics as well LA Paralympics. “My next goal is to compete in the LA Olympics and turn this Paralympic dream to competing at the Olympics too. I have the opportunity to get ranking points and I hope to be an Olympian too,” says the sprinter.
