\n<\/p>\n
Amazingly, given she is only 19, Kukundakwe is now something of a veteran at major competitions, having made history as the youngest athlete at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics when she was just 14 years old.<\/p>\n
She subsequently took part in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and was then Uganda’s flag bearer at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.<\/p>\n
“Making history is always a big honour, especially for Uganda,” she said, looking back at her Paralympic debut in Japan.<\/p>\n
“It was a huge deal when we went back home and it kind of opened up the world of para-sport to Ugandan people, and it made big changes in terms of the support that para-sport gets from government.”<\/p>\n
Kukundakwe, who was born with no lower right arm, will compete in the 100m freestyle S9 and 100m breaststroke SB8 categories.<\/p>\n
In para-swimming, the letter S is used to denote freestyle and SB breaststroke, while the numbers 1-10 are used for athletes with a limb impairment. The lower the number, the more severe the impairment.<\/p>\n
The teenager readily admits that her sport has changed her life.<\/p>\n
“Swimming really built up my confidence. Before I was swimming, I would always wear long sleeves or sweaters, even when it’s a very, very hot day, to try and hide my hand.<\/p>\n
“But ever since I started swimming, a sport which requires you to pretty much be open, I started to feel more comfortable with myself. And eventually I found out that it doesn’t really matter what I look like. It’s all about what I can do.”<\/p>\n
Kukundakwe is hoping to secure Uganda’s first ever swimming medal, targeting the podium in the breaststroke.<\/p>\n
And she is not alone, with Alphonse also looking to secure her first Commonwealth medal, having finished sixth in the 1500m T54 four years ago.<\/p>\n
This time, she will go in the same event and the 400m T54.<\/p>\n
“I remember when I won the first medal for the [2023] World Championships in Paris (silver in the 100m T54), the mindset completely changed in Mauritius,” she explained.<\/p>\n
“Many youngsters with disability and parents also were really inspired through what I did. My team-mates now are those who saw me on TV.”<\/p>\n
In a sign of how far things have come, the first gold medal handed out at these Games went to a para-athlete for the first time, as England’s Mark Swan won the men’s lightweight category<\/a> in the powerlifting, with Nigeria’s Roland Ezuruike taking silver.<\/p>\n Tahiru Haruna, a former arm wrestler who turned to powerlifting in 2017, was hoping to land Ghana’s second ever Commonwealth medal won in a para-sport but finished seventh in the heavyweight event.<\/p>\n Despite that personal disappointment, he agrees athletes like him have the power to inspire disabled people in Africa.<\/p>\n “In Ghana, I always go to schools [and] on streets teaching about sports, against stigma, trying to tell them that you can play sports.<\/p>\n “Back in schools in Ghana they don’t allow [the] physically challenged to partake in sports, so we try to teach PE teachers to get them involved.<\/p>\n “Everything is inclusion, we don’t need to separate us.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n