Paralympian Graaff Targets More Gold

By Michael Uugwanga

NOT all sports codes in the country are equally popular, yet one can always make a name for themselves in the least popular sports code, such as Paralympian Arno Jurgens Graaff.

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Graff is presently the top U-20 Javelin thrower, with an F46 38m record.

However, he could not duplicate the same feet in the Pupkewitz Championships in Swakopmund last month, only managing a personal best of 37.88m throw, which was good enough for a gold medal.

Graaff, who was born with a disability known formally as Ulna Dimilia (casually known as Mirror Hand), had a childhood dream of playing rugby but, due to the severity of his disability, was unable to do so.

Despite being a strong cricketer, he chose to focus more on Para-Athletics.

“In addition to Javelin, I also participate in Shot-put and Discus, all of which I enjoy equally – but Javelin has been my most successful.

I also won gold in the shot put with a mark of 10.

47m and gold in the discus with an imprint of 29.61m. All three medals are new Namibian records in the Men’s Senior F46 category, and I was also named the best field Para-Athlete.

For more on this and other stories: Grab a copy of the Newspaper