By Seraj Essul
Tripoli, 12 June 12, 2014:
After an intense training period involving two practices per day, 15 athletes will represent Libya . . .[restrict]next week at the IPC Athletics Grand Prix 8th Tunis International Meeting in Tunis, 16-18 June.
The International Parlympics Committee (IPC), whose vision is“to enable paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and inspire and excite the world,” was founded in 1989. According to its website, it aims to develop sports opportunities for all people with an impairment from beginner to elite level.
“Our athletes have trained hard every day to represent Libya well,” the social media office head of the Libyan Paralympic Committee, Abdulsalam Shlebak, told the Libya Herald.
“Our goal is to qualify for the 2016 Paralympic World Championship in Qatar, as well as the 2015 Rio de Janiero Paralympic Games,” he added.
The Committee has faced some challenges this year, including lack of funds and sponsorship.
“We received our budget last year from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, but it wasn’t approved this year. We are actively looking for sponsors to grow the sport,” Shlebak said.
“We also missed a tournament in France this month because our visas were not approved in time,” Shlebak added.
The Libyan team won 17 medals at last year’s Tunis International Meeting: nine golds, four silvers, and four bronzes. [/restrict]
