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NAIROBI, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Kenya will send a team of 24 athletes to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games scheduled for September, officials said on Monday.
The contingent will be led by Henry Kirwa, the 2008 Summer Paralympics triple champion, who won gold medals in the men's 1,500m T13 event, 5,000m T13 event and 10,000m T12 event four years ago.
"The team will include guide runners for the blind athletes, however the number of officials to accompany the team is yet to be ascertained because we are still waiting for Kenya's quota allocation from the International Paralympic Committee," Elijah Mwalili, Secretary General of the Kenya National Paralympic Committee, told Xinhua.
The Paralympic Games involves athletes with a range of physical disabilities and since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, are held almost immediately following the respective Olympic Games.
Mwalili said the Kenyan government has budgeted for 1.2 million U.S. dollars for the global event, adding that the squad will commence residential training starting in the last week of July.
The athletes earned a berth to the summer games after excelling at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) qualifying championships held in Marrakech, Morocco in May.
