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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Anne Wafula Strike

Celebrate the Commonwealth Games and the Lionesses. Then fight for real diversity

The Lionesses celebrate victory.
‘Watching the Lionesses secure their history-making win reminded me of the galvanising power of sport and its potential to act as a life-changing springboard for marginalised groups.’ Photograph: Daniela Porcelli/SPP/REX/Shutterstock

When you’re a minority, it’s easy to feel that your world has shrunk. That’s how I’ve felt over the years, as a disabled woman. But sport has been fundamental in opening the world up to me again.

I first caught the bug watching the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Seeing female wheelchair para-athletes racing on TV that day 20 years ago inspired me as a young mum, newly arrived in the UK from Kenya, to get into a gym. From there, I started training as a para-athlete, which has given me access to opportunities I could never have even imagined as a disabled girl in Kenya.

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