Salum Ageze Kashafali

Started: He took up athletics at age 17 in Bergen, Norway. (paralympic.org, 13 Jun 2019) Reason: He used to play football but switched to athletics when his vision continued to deteriorate. "It got to the point that I couldn't see anything. So, I tried track and I won my first race." (paralympic.org, 13 Jun 2019) Ambition: To win gold at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (nettavisen.no, 06 Oct 2023) Awards: He and fellow athletics competitor Ida Nesse were Norway's flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (medias.paris2024.org, 28 Aug 2024) He was named Performer of the Year for 2023 in Bergen, Norway. (Instagram profile, 22 Dec 2023; bergen.kommune.no, 21 Dec 2023) He was named the 2020 Para Athlete of the Year in Norway by the Norwegian Athletics Association and Male Para Athlete of the Year at the 2020 Norway Sports Gala. (idrettsgalla.no, 10 Jan 2021; nrk.no, 01 Dec 2020; Instagram profile, 05 Jan 2020) Additional Info: MOVE TO NORWAY Born in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, he and his family moved to Norway when he was age 11 to escape civil war. "It was very hard as I only spoke Swahili and French. It was very difficult to adapt but I came through it in the end with the help of friends around me. Coming to Norway saved my life. My childhood was not about running or playing football, it was about finding food and surviving, so getting here was like winning the lottery and becoming a billionaire. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that I would have a roof over my head and food on the table every day. It was just like a dream." (dagbladet.no, 29 Oct 2023; WOWOW Official YouTube channel, 28 Dec 2022; insidethegames.biz, 09 Aug 2019; nrk.no, 13 Jun 2019) PREVIOUS OCCUPATION He used to work as a mathematics teacher at a junior high school in Bergen, Norway. "It is now [speaking in 2023] a lot easier to balance my daily life. When I was working, it was about five to six hours and on top of that I had to train three to four hours. It was too tiring. And children make a lot of noise. I taught eighth to 10th grade for two years." (puma-catchup.com, 10 May 2023; paralympic.org, 26 Aug 2021; insidethegames.biz, 30 Nov 2020)