World junior 200m record holder aims higher

Three decades since American sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner “Flo-Jo” died, her awe-inspiring performances still continue to inspire many.

The gold medallist at the 1988 Seoul Olympics remains adored by her fans and athletes across the globe because of her phenomenal speed on track.

Joyner, who died at 38 in 1998, holds the world record in women’s 100 metres and 200m of 10.49sec and 21.34sec respectively, a feat one Beryl Wamira, the reigning world junior women’s 200m deaf record holder, is keen to achieve.

“Disability is not inability and I am living proof. All I want is to be like Flo-Jo, she remains my greatest ever runner and my target is to reach her level,” says Wamira.

At the inaugural Africa Deaf Athletics Championships held in September at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, Wamira became a household name. Alongside her elder brother David, they tore the track in front of a handful spectators to help hosts Kenya triumph in the continental competition and affirm her dominance in athletics.

Wamira, who was born deaf, starred at the event, winning gold in 100m and 200m in a time of 12.87 and 26:17 respectively, while her brother David clocked 28.81 to win gold in men’s 200m. The two medals add to her winning streak in a career that started by luck.

The 24-year-old runner holds dear her then teachers at St Mary's Primary School for the Deaf – Nyang’oma in Bondo, Siaya, for helping tap her athletics talent.

A school competition that involved students hopping while inside a sack in 2004 put her career firmly on track.

“I discovered that I could run at the tender age of 10, then I was in Class Four,” she says. Regular victory at the event earned her a place in the school’s athletics team.

Here, she had just followed in the footsteps of her father Bartholomew Wamira, who had a short stint in athletics, before shifting to football.

Inspired by her brother David who was already in competitive athletics and a short video of Joyner’s good performances on the track at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, she has never looked back since she joined the neighbouring Father Ouderaa Secondary School for the Hearing Impaired in 2009.

The bushy playground at the school offered her a venue to develop her talent. Alongside other students, they trained during games time, which would intensify whenever a competition was approaching.

And it did not take long before her efforts started paying off. In a zonal athletics competition, which was her first in secondary school, the budding athlete put her best foot forward to beat opponents, among them those with normal eyesight.

Thereafter, winning became a trend for the fifth born in a family of eight.

“I won in my first ever race in high school despite being the youngest in the team. Since then, I progressed to national levels in all competitions,” Wamira says. In 2012, while she was in Form Four, she extended her winning ways beyond Kenya’s borders. She bagged silver and gold in both 100m and 200m races respectively at World Deaf Athletics Championships in Canada.

Unknown to her, she had just warmed up for a milestone achievement.

At the Deaflympics in Bulgaria in 2013 while only 18, she left everyone in shock when she cut the tape first in the women’s 200m in a record time of 24.46. The world record has stood to date.

So far, the fifth born in a family of eight has participated in five international competitions and has won nine medals -- five gold, three silver and 1 bronze.

The sterling performance saw her receive the Presidential Award Scheme for Young People in 2015 and a Certificate of Recognition from the Ministry of Sports in the 2016 Mashujaa Day celebrations in Machakos.

Unknown to many, when she stood out at the inaugural Africa Deaf Athletics Championships, she was struggling with a hip injury she had suffered in 2017 during training.

The athlete, who holds a Certificate in Food and Beverage Production from Karen Technical Training Institute for the Deaf in Nairobi, is keen on breaking the world record once she recovers fully, a target her coach Samuel Kibet says is realistic.

“Beryl is a talented athlete because she responds quickly to instructions and she is always focused. In a good shape and with good preparations, we are confident she will break the record,” says coach Kibet.

In 2020 and 2021, the 24-year-old will fly the Kenyan flag alongside other runners at the World Deaf Championships and Deaflympics respectively.