Sylvia Olero prides herself as an all-around sports woman who plays sitting volleyball, does rowing, canoeing, swimming and her favourite at the moment, discus throwing.
She competes in class F44 in Paralympics where she is ranked 5th in the world. This is what earned her a ticket to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
“This is the first time I’m going to the Commonwealth games since I became an athlete. I was not a discus thrower before, I was a swimmer but I had to switch,” she said.
Olero says she was discouraged from swimming because she was put in a higher classification which she found very difficult to compete in because of lack of opportunities. when she was introduced to discuss in 2016, she loved it at the first attempt.
This is her time to shine she says.
“I would love to come back home with a medal. That is what I’m yearning for. I’m looking forward to it and that is why I’m training so hard, so that I may come back home a proud athlete,” she added.
Though she is the only para-athlete in class F44 in Kenya, Sylvia she has qualified for the major championships and says her performance speaks for itself.
“It seems discus throwing is my best event and that is why I concentrate on it more than swimming,” she says proudly.
The 2016 Africa Paralympics silver medalist is gunning for a medal to build herself in the discus event. But she says her other eye is open for opportunities that might arise in the other sports that she plays.
