“I want to win all the three gold medals,” an excited Umaima told The Express Tribune. “I know I’ll do better than my friend Iqra in swimming. I swim like a fish!”
When doctors informed Umaima’s family that she has the mind of a 10-year-old, many thought it unlikely that the 17-year-old would go on to win gold medals at the WSO held in China in 2007.
She also outplayed her opponents in basketball during the SOP national games in Lahore in July and earned herself one of the 350 spots in the ongoing event in Karachi.
The five-day event is being organised by Special Olympics of Pakistan (SOP), an enterprise that was started by SOP president Ronak Lakhani in 1989 with an aim to provide mentally challenged athletes like Umaima with a platform.
Lakhani went on to get SOP affiliated with the WSO to be able to further this cause. However, even after her athletes won several awards during their participation in five WSOs, Lakhani said that she is still struggling to get the support of her own country’s government in organising SOP events across Pakistan.
“They (athletes) do not need your sympathies,” said Lakhani. “They need acceptance.” SOP’s national games will continue till September 28, after which athletes who have stood out in the five-day series of games will be sent to the WSO 2011.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 26th, 2010.
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