Para-athletes break more than 100 records at ‘Start your Impossible’ event

More than 650 para-athletes from SA and eight African countries participated in the thrilling  2023 Toyota SA Sports Association for the Physically Disabled (SASAPD) National Championships. 

In an excellent display of results, the para-athletes broke 90 SA records, 20 open records, five Africa records and two world records at the Cape Town Stadium from March 17 to 22.  

Gauteng won the athletics floating trophy for senior and junior athletes and also scooped the floating trophy for the overall winning province, followed by hosts Western Cape in second place and Free State in third.

Celebrating its 61st anniversary under the theme, “Start your Impossible,” the event attracted entries in field and track athletics, boccia, goalball, swimming, cerebral palsy football, powerlifting, para-cycling and judo. 

SASAPD, a sports federation for people living with physical disabilities in SA, promotes athletes from grassroots to Paralympic level. It caters for various disability groups including spinal cord injuries, amputees, cerebral palsied, visually impaired and blind, and les autres (a category for Paralympic competitors whose disability does not fit into the other categories). 

The annual championship games are a World Para Athletics-sanctioned event, which means they offer competitors an opportunity to qualify for international events and provide them with world ranking points. It’s also an important stepping stone to the Paris 2023 World Para Athletics Championships and Paris 2024 Paralympic Games in France. 

“The games are an excellent platform for nurturing promising and ambitious athletes with physical disabilities and visual impairments,” says Moekie Grobbelaar, president of the SASAPD.

“We are delighted that after six decades, disabled athletes are still able to achieve their dreams and qualify for the 2024 Paralympics.”

Globally, Toyota is the official mobility partner of the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee. Locally, Toyota SA Motors is a long-standing sponsor of the SASAPD.

“Start your Impossible” was Toyota’s first global campaign, conceptualised in 2018 to reflect the Olympic and Paralympic spirit of encouragement, challenge and progress. The campaign was created to honour Toyota’s shift to a mobility company and the brand’s long global partnership with the International Olympic and Paralympic committees. 

An impassioned call to action, the campaign was designed to create a more inclusive and sustainable society where everyone is encouraged to do their best.

The sponsorship is not only about promoting the sporting codes offered to athletes with disabilities, but is also about providing humankind with freedom of movement. 

This article was sponsored by Toyota SA Motors.