JOA

The Jamaica Paralympic Association continues to write history in the annals of the Paralympic movement with the berth of the sports of judo and taekwondo at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.

Theador Subba, the Lima 2019 Para Pan American judo bronze medallist in the over 100kg category, will go on the mat in Tokyo with hopes of earning Jamaica's first-ever medal at the pinnacle event in Paralympic sport, while Shauna-Kaye Hines, the Lima 2019 Para Pan American bronze medallist, will engage in combat for a similar and coveted place in the sport of taekwondo.

"I am going not as a spectator but as an active participant in a sport which I love and to do my best to ensure that another medal goes into my cabinet and Jamaica's vault," said Subba, who only took up the sport in 2018.

Hines is also young in the sport, but in the three years since she has pursued it she has garnered many medals in regional and international competitions.

"I am a competitor, and to compete successfully you have to believe in yourself and remain focused on the prize for your country and yourself. I am ready," she declared.

Both Subba and Hines are living sport at the international level while pursuing degrees at The University of the West Indies, Mona campus, which is a mandate that president of the Jamaica Paralympic Association, Christopher Samuda encourages athletes to embrace.

"Sport is excellence of the mind and body, and whereas money can facilitate both in the classroom and on the field of play, we teach our Paralympians and para athletes that the game is ultimately won when the mind commands the body to keep that appointment with destiny," Samuda said.

Subba and Hines understand that they both have an appointment with destiny in Tokyo, the pursuit of what President Samuda stated: "will, in and of itself, provide inspiration to para athletes who face challenges personally and in society, but who continue to emerge with self-esteem, pride and sense of triumph."