The President of the Sierra Leone’s National Paralympic Committee (SLE-NPC), Unisa Deen Kargbo (UDK), has emphasized that qualifying for the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games is the Committee’s uppermost priority.
The Opening Ceremony of the games scheduled for Paris on the 28th of August 2024 will serve as a grand kickoff to the 12-day sporting event, which will feature 549 medal events across 22 sports. It will be held outside a stadium for the first time in Paralympic history, with the Athletes’ Parade leading down the iconic Champs-Élysées in the heart of the French capital to Place de la Concorde.
About 4,400 athletes from an expected record number of participating National Paralympic Committees are set to take part in the first-ever summer Paralympic Games in France.
The Paralympic Flame will be created in Stock Mandeville, the historic birthplace of Paralympic sport, and will embark on a four-day journey to Paris to light the cauldron during the Opening Ceremony on 28 August.
UDK admonished the country’s Para athletes to prepare and secure spots at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, noting that the NPC is always committed to supporting Sierra Leone’s Paralympic athletes to secure qualification.
However, the National Paralympic Committee of Sierra Leone (NPC-SLE) was part of the National Olympic Committee and Commonwealth Games Association of Sierra Leon’s, (NOC/CGA-SLE) delegation which had been received by His Excellency President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Dr Julius Maada Bio on Wednesday 17th January 2024, at State House, where they gave update on past events and the current preparations for the 2024 Olympic / Paralympic Games in Paris and the All African Games in Accra.
In another development, the NPC’s Chief informed it general membership that he received soft and hard copies of the New NPC SLE Constitution and Action Plan for 2024, commending the Constitutional Review Committee for their hard work done.
He revealed that the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), National Sports Authority (NSA), National Olympic Committee (NOC) and other Stakeholders will assess and make their input in the new NPC-SLE Constitution and also a general meeting will then be organized for final discussions and adoption. “Once more again l thank the team and the entire membership for working together.”