Dar Para powerlifter to take part in Dubai Elite Championships

Yohana Mwila, Tanzania Power Lifting Association (TPPA) acting secretary-general, said the Dubai showdown will be held from August 23-30. 

He said the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)-the sanctioned event will also serve as a qualification for the next year's Paris Paralympic Games. 

Mwila said the two athletes and their coach will be known after the National Para Championships slated for next month at Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

The TPPA official is the only local powerlifter qualified for the Paris Paralympic Games.

He earned his qualification for the Paris Games in the last year's Commonwealth Games which took place in Birmingham.

He stated that competing in the Dubai Elite Championships and China Paralympic Championships, scheduled for October, are some of the conditions for Para athletes that have already earned Paris Games qualifications. 

"We will have two powerlifters in the coming Dubai Elite Championships, they are male and female, I have just finalized preparing some documents which will be sent to IPC," he said.

Mwila could not mention the coach who will accompany the two athletes to Dubai, saying he will be known after the National Championships. 

The official revealed: "Tanzania Paralympic Committee (TPC) and TPPA agreed that the coach and a female athlete, who will represent the country in Dubai Elite Championships should be selected at National Para Championships."

"This was agreed as in the past there were some issues regarding the way the coaches are selected, so Powerlifting being an individual sport where a coach coaches one athlete," Mwila pointed out.

"We agreed that the powerlifter who will emerge on top will be accompanied to Dubai by his or her coach," he explained. 

Mwila has, on top of representing the country in the Birmingham Games, also represented the country in the 2011 Maputo All Africa Games and 2019 Malawi Games.

Last year, Mwila was one of the beneficiaries of the Commonwealth Sports Development Program (GAPS) which facilitated his participation in elite training at Birmingham University and Griff University in South Africa. 

GAPS supports the development of inclusive sports pathways through the Commonwealth, removing the barriers to participation for people with disabilities and for women and girls to become actively involved in sports. Through the GAPS, Mwila is now licensed and classified by IPC.