Minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for sport, Natalie Neita-Headley, (centre) greets Jamaica’s two medallists from the recent International Paralympic Committee’s Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France. Alphanso Cunningham (left) won gold and set a new world record in the F52-54 Javelin event, and Sylvia Grant took home a silver medal in the F57-58 javelin competition.
Did you know that our paralympic athletes have won more medals at a single Olympiad than their able-bodied peers? Jamaica copped 18 medals – eight gold, three silver and seven bronze – at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, West Germany. That’s six more than our haul at last year’s London games. Over the years, Jamaica’s special athletes have amassed a total of 21 gold, 16 silver and 18 bronze medals at the Paralympics.
