Most athletes pursue and master one sport for the duration of their careers, but Asiya Mohamed, a talented sportswoman from Mombasa, excels in not only one or two but three different sports: marathon wheeling, wheelchair tennis and Para-rowing. Asiya’s journey to becoming a Paralympian has quite a traumatic background. At just two years old, she experienced tragedy when she was involved in a near-fatal train accident, leading her to become a double amputee as she lost her legs and three fingers. Soon after the accident, Asiya lost her father to a stroke, and six years later, her mother also passed on.
Finding self-acceptance
Although orphaned at a young age, Asiya was fortunate to still grow up in a loving home. Her relatives took her in, enrolled her in a school for disabled children and gave her a strong foundation of support. Like any other adolescent child, Asiya was stubborn and angsty. However, this period of her life was pivotal for her, not only personally, but professionally. This is because, apart from discovering which music she liked and developing teenage crushes, it was at this stage that Asiya truly learnt to love and accept herself for who she was. This gave her the courage to grab life by its horns and explore all her interests, one of which was sports.
A Budding Sportswoman
Asiya’s journey to becoming a decorated sportsperson began in high school when she took an interest in the Standard Chartered marathons that were being hosted in the region. She decided to compete, and on her first try, she placed fifth overall. Being the quick study she was, she moved on to winning bronze, silver, and gold medals in all her subsequent races. Later, once she had graduated and began working as a teacher, Asiya took up wheelchair tennis as a means of maintaining her health. Her incredible skill led her to become a member of the Kenya National Wheelchair Tennis team, enabling her to tour the world representing Kenya in the sport.
The value of community
In 2018, at the age of 29, Asiya took an interest in a different sport: Para-rowing. She did not even know how to swim, and the first time she went into the water on a boat, she capsized. However, Asiya was never one to back down from a challenge. She tried and tried again until she got the hang of it. When Asiya was ready to test her abilities at an international level, she participated in the season-opening Para-rowing Gavirate Regatta in Italy, which was held in May 2019. She finished second to last in this race, but this experience gave her the confidence to try and qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
To do so, she would need to compete in the 2019 Africa Continental Qualification Regatta which was being held in Tunis. When the government declined to finance her trip, Asiya’s Olympic dream was nearly crushed, but, once again, her family rallied around her and fundraised to get her to Tunisia. Once there, Asiya did her family and country proud when she won the PR1 women’s singles sculls, for competitors only using their arms. As a result, she qualified for the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, becoming East Africa’s first-ever female Olympic Para-rower and the first Kenyan female rower to qualify for either the Olympics or Paralympics.
We applaud this history-making #KeMchezaji for her resilience and determination. Hongera Asiya!