Kyeremaa clearing disability barriers …to win Ghana’s first taekwondo gold from Paralympic Games

Time to do a few stretches

 It is exactly seven years ago when a Techiman based disabled seamstress, Ms Patricia Kyerewaa, decided to heed to persuasions from a friend she referred to as ‘Uncle’ (Bro Dan) to begin a career as a para (disabled) taekwondo athlete.

And that has proven to be a decision without regrets although there was an initial rejection from her parents. Now all she enjoys from them is their unwavering support.

It was one afternoon in her shop, working with thread and needles to put together some decent clothes for her customers when Bro Dan came around, asking about her thoughts on a discussion they had previously.

“Is it about the discussion for me to join a taekwondo club?” Kyeremaa quizzed.

And Bro Dan gently responded: “Yes, I have waited for you to call me to let me know your response.”

To Bro Dan’s surprise, Kyeremaa responded in the affirmative and right away, they travelled from Techiman to Sunyani in the Bono region to meet the one who happens to be her cur­rent coach, George Ablomoti.

That was the story behind Kyere­maa’s journey in the world of tae­kwondo as a para athlete.

Just seven years down the line, Kyeremaa is knocking on the doors of fame, having carved a niche for herself as the first and only para tae­kwondo athlete in Ghana’s Paralympic team for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games that is slated for August 28 to September 8.

For that feat, she gives credit to the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) of Ghana which applied for the Wild Card on behalf of the Ghana Taekwon­do Federation (GTF) for her and a sec­ond athlete, Emmanuel Kofi Turkson.

However, the International Paralym­pic Committee (IPC) approved that of Kyeremaa and failed to grant the request for the other.

As a Person Living with disability (PLWD), Kyeremaa opted to learning a skill to be able to fend for herself after completing Junior High School (JHS) at Akumadan SDA, knowing the challenges one faces as a PLWD in Ghana.

But the busy schedule of an athlete preparing for a competition of this magnitude is not making it possible for her to practise her trade; presently she is in residential camp in Tema.

As it is with every venture, she recounted initial struggles in trying to adapt to the demands of the sport.

“It was quite challenging from the beginning. I was not a sports person and didn’t understand why Bro Dan kept persuading me to become a taekwondo player but with time, I ad­justed,” she told this Reporter.

“I feared the sack after the initial struggles but to my knowledge, it was actually the coach who tasked Bro Dan to convince me to join, actually spurred me on; and it is that confidence and hard work that keeps me going.”

“Honestly, I put in all the hard work but was not quite sure where this venture would land me.”

Kyeremaa has gone onto record with a few achievements which she hopes to climax with a gold medal at the upcom­ing Paralympics in Paris.

The story about her success started with a big bang; registering a gold medal feat in the 2017 edition of the Korea Ambassador Taekwondo Champi­onship among six other contestants.

She continued to dominate in the championship as she won a second gold and silver medals in subsequent championships.

Her dominance extended to the Afri­ca region where she recorded Ghana’s first gold medal at the Africa Champi­onship, Niger 2022, bringing home a medal and a beautiful trophy.

That earned the 29-year-old athlete qualification to the France Grand Prix in 2022 but out of the huge numbers, she placed a respectable ninth posi­tion.

That was, however, not her biggest disappointment. Failure to qualify to the Paralympics 2024 championship via the regular route still hunts her.

In all that she has achieved in the sport, the support she keeps enjoying from officials, family, coach and fans has kept her at the top.

“For my fam­ily, I am grateful to them. They were initially against it but now they are convinced I am on the right path. Through para taekwon­do, I have travelled to Accra, France, Niger, Senegal and still go­ing,” she remarked.

“The Ghana Taekwondo Federation (GTF) board spearheaded by Mr Fred­erick Lartey Otu, a Chief Revenue Of­ficer with the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), and the para taekwondo sub-committee chaired by Rev. Samuel Annor cannot be left out. They have played instru­mental roles in my development,” she added.

For the future, she sees it as quite encouraging although she would quit to marry her sweetheart at some point and focus on family life.

In her view, sports financing has been left on the shoulders of individ­uals like the various federation heads and that is not good enough.

For her fellow disabled, Kyeremaa believes there is so much they can do to stay relevant in order to make them useful to the society.

“Until I started taekwondo, I didn’t know sports accommodates people with disabilities. The same thing is happening with other disciplines so I want to encourage other disabled peo­ple to engage in sports. They should identify the discipline with interest and get on board,” she noted.

“So, instead of making themselves burdens on society and families, they should strive to do something positive with their lives because disability must not mean the end of the world for them.”

 By Andrew Nortey