Sports minister meets Paralympic Games athletes

The Minister of Sports, Fitness and Recreation Abdulla Rafiu has met with the Maldivian athletes taking part in the Paralympic Games in France this year.

The meeting was held on Saturday morning at the ministry, where the State Minister of Sports Mohamed Riyaz and President of Maldives Paralympic Committee Aishath Nazhath were also in the attendance.

Minister Rafiu awarded the jerseys to the Maldivian paralympic team at the ceremony, and encouraged the athletes to do their best. The team consists of Fathimath Ibrahim and her guide runner Fathimath Shamha and Abdul Razzaq and his guide runner Hussain Shifaz.

The two athletes recently won bronze medals at the Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG) held recently in Madagascar.

This is the second time para-athlete Fathimath is taking part in a Paralympic Games event and made her debut at the Tokio 2020 Paralympic Games held in 2021 at Japan. She was joined by Mohamed Mazin to represent Maldives at the games.

The team is expected to participate in both 100- and 200-meter running events. The Maldives team got chance to send athletes only for the athletics events of this year’s games.

Abdull Massood will be joining the team as their coach, and Maldives Paralympic Committee’s secretary general, Ahmed Mohamed will be joining as the chef de mission of the Maldives contingent.