“You’re Not Disabled Enough”: Inside the Classification Crisis Undermining Kenya’s Paralympic Athletes

A deep dive into the broken system, global inconsistencies, and the athletes paying the price

Kenya’s identity in global sport is firmly established. For decades, the country has produced world-class athletes who dominate long-distance running, elevate national pride, and symbolize resilience on the international stage. From Olympic podiums to world championship tracks, Kenyan athletes have become synonymous with excellence.

A Nation of Champions—With an Unseen Struggle

But beneath this celebrated success lies a quieter, less visible story—one that rarely captures headlines or prime-time coverage.

It is the story of Kenya’s para-athletes.

A Kenyan para-athlete trains in Birmingham, England ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth games that year.

Athletes who train just as hard. Who sacrifice just as much. Who dream just as big.

And yet, many of them never even get a fair chance to compete. Not because they lack ability. Not because they lack discipline. But because they are caught in a deeply flawed system—one that determines whether they are “eligible” to compete at all.

At the center of this issue lies a controversial and often misunderstood process:

Classification.

Understanding Classification: The Gatekeeper of Para Sport

In para sport, classification is everything.

Unlike able-bodied sport, where categories are typically defined by age, weight, or gender, para sport requires a more complex system. Athletes are grouped based on the type and severity of their impairments to ensure fair competition. In theory, classification exists to create a level playing field. In practice, many argue it does the opposite. The system, governed globally by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), is designed to assess whether an athlete has an “eligible impairment” and how that impairment impacts their performance in a specific sport.

But here’s the critical issue:

Classification is not just about eligibility—it determines opportunity, success, and in many cases, an athlete’s entire career.

A single classification decision can:

• Decide whether an athlete competes or not

• Determine who they compete against

• Affect their chances of winning medals

And when that decision is wrong, the consequences are devastating.

“You Are Not Disabled Enough”: When the System Fails Athletes

Among para-athletes, there is a phrase that has become both infamous and deeply painful:

“You are not disabled enough.”

It is a statement that reflects the harsh reality of a system many believe is inconsistent, subjective, and at times, unjust.

Athletes across the world have reported:

• Being misclassified into categories where they are at a disadvantage

• Being deemed ineligible despite living with clear impairments

• Having to repeatedly undergo reclassification

For some, this process becomes a cycle of uncertainty—one that erodes confidence and undermines years of preparation.

And once an athlete is placed in the wrong classification?

For many, that’s the end of their competitive journey.

Kenya’s Unique Disadvantage: A System Without Infrastructure

While classification is a global issue, its impact is particularly severe in Kenya.

The country faces a critical structural gap:

There are no internationally certified classifiers based in Kenya.

A para-athlete training for a race track event.

This single issue creates a chain reaction of challenges:

1. Delayed Classification

Athletes often have to wait until international competitions to be assessed.

2. Last-Minute Decisions

Classification may occur just days—or even hours—before events.

3. Emotional and Financial Strain

Athletes invest heavily in travel and training, only to risk disqualification upon arrival.

4. Lost Opportunities

Misclassification or ineligibility can mean missing out on medals, sponsorships, and recognition.

In some cases, athletes travel across continents not to compete—but to be told they cannot.

It’s easy to measure this issue in terms of medals lost or competitions missed. But the real cost is human. Behind every classification decision is an athlete who has trained for years in order to overcome physical and societal barriers and represented their country with pride only to be denied a fair chance—not because of performance, but because of administrative or systemic failure—is a profound injustice. For many, the system meant to empower them becomes the very thing that holds them back.

The IPC’s classification code has evolved over time, with major revisions introduced in 2007 and later refined in 2015. The intention was clear: Move from a purely medical model to a more functional, sport-specific approach. But critics argue that the system still falls short. Not all impairments are equally recognized or accommodated. Experts suggest that while the system has improved on paper, its implementation remains uneven.

Anne Wafula Strike: A Story of Triumph—and Frustration

Few stories capture the complexity of this issue better than that of Anne Wafula Strike.

Anne Wafula Strike at a past Paralympic event.

A former Paralympian who has represented both Kenya and the United Kingdom, Anne’s journey is one of resilience, determination, and success against the odds. But even she has not been immune to the flaws of classification. Over the course of her career, she has been classified multiple times in different countries. Each assessment brought new uncertainty. Each decision carried significant consequences.

She narrated to me how her dream moment at the 2004 Athens Paralympic games almost became a nightmare after she found out she had been put in the wrong class. "I had to be reassessed so many times it almost made me give up on my dreams," she recalled during our interview.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/679b8c_25dc02593002407a9327bd5c4c68eb46/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Former Kenyan Paralympian Anne Wafula Strike explains the challenge she underwent before she could represent her country at the 2004 paralympic games in Greece.

Her experience highlights a critical flaw:

Even at the highest levels of sport, classification is not always consistent or reliable.

When elite athletes face such challenges, the situation for those with fewer resources becomes even more concerning.

"I remember for all of us at the olympic village, it wasn't about our disability. It was about our abilities that made us fly our country's flags high at the Paralympics," she narrates.

Anne Wafula Strike’s story is one of resilience shaped by both personal adversity and systemic challenges within para sport. Born in Kenya, she contracted polio at a young age, an illness that permanently affected her mobility and altered the course of her life. Growing up in an environment with limited support structures for persons with disabilities, her early years were marked by exclusion and hardship.

Anne Wafula Strike during her earlier years in Western Kenya.

Yet, her determination led her to discover wheelchair racing—a turning point that would redefine her identity. Through sheer perseverance, she rose to represent Kenya at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, an achievement that symbolized not just personal triumph, but also the untapped potential of many athletes living with disabilities in countries with limited resources.

Her journey took a significant turn when she relocated to the United Kingdom, where access to better training facilities, structured support systems, and institutional backing allowed her career to flourish further. After gaining British citizenship, she went on to represent Great Britain in international competitions, continuing to build her legacy in para athletics. However, even within a more developed sporting system, Anne encountered persistent challenges—particularly with classification. Despite competing at the highest level, she experienced multiple reclassification across different countries, exposing inconsistencies in how athletes are assessed globally. These repeated evaluations not only created uncertainty but also raised questions about the reliability and fairness of the classification process itself.

The Science—and its Limitations

Originally, classification systems relied heavily on medical diagnoses.

Athletes were grouped based on their condition rather than how that condition affected their performance. This approach was developed (in part) by Professor Ludwig Guttman, a German-born British neurologist who revolutionized the treatment of spinal cord injuries and founded the Paralympic movement. He helped organize the first Paralympic games after his studies discovered that patients with spinal cord injuries recovered much faster when they engaged in sporting activities like wheelchair tennis and track racing. This was back in 1948, with the first version of the Paralympic games taking place at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital grounds in England where the professor worked.

But years later the medical diagnosis for categorizing disabilities in sports has been proved to be deeply flawed. Two athletes with the same diagnosis could have vastly different levels of ability. Recognizing this, the system shifted toward functional classification—assessing what an athlete can actually do in their sport. While this is a step forward, it introduces new challenges as measuring functionality is complex and performance can vary day-to-day thus making assessments require high levels of expertise. Without well-trained classifiers, the system becomes vulnerable to error.

The Overlooked Group: Athletes with Albinism

Among the most marginalized within this system are athletes living with albinism in Kenya.

Albinism, recognized as a disability by global health authorities, often involves visual impairment. But in sport, these athletes frequently fall into a grey area. They are not always considered sufficiently impaired for certain categories yet not fully accommodated in able-bodied competition. This leaves them in a state of exclusion.

Former nominated senator and current Kenya government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura says:

“We are in between.”

As one of the few Kenyan legislators openly representing this community, he acknowledges the complexity of the issue, noting that people with albinism often fall into a "grey area" within the classification system—neither fully recognized nor adequately supported.

However, he is also candid about the limitations of individual advocacy, emphasizing that the responsibility of addressing such systemic gaps cannot rest on one leader alone. Representing a broad spectrum of disabilities at the national level, Mwaura points out that meaningful change will require coordinated effort across government institutions, sports bodies, and international organizations to ensure that no group remains excluded. "I agree that we've got to define our own sports," he tells me, "(classification in Kenya) it's a poorly designed area; it does not even exist!"

This gap in classification in Kenya reflects a broader issue—the system’s inability to adapt to diverse and nuanced forms of disability.

A Tale of Two Systems: Kenya vs the UK

To understand what’s possible, it’s useful to compare Kenya’s situation with that of the United Kingdom. In the UK, organizations like Disability Rights UK play a significant role in promoting inclusion and equality. They work with grassroots programs to encourage participation from an early stage. Athletes are supported not just at the elite level, but throughout their journey.

Disability Rights UK CEO Kamran Malik during my interview with him at the organization's Head Office in West London.

Disability UK CEO Kamran Malik spearheads work towards ensuring issues affecting para-athletes are looked into. "We partner with the government and push to have more funds allocated to the upgrade and maintenance of facilities which help train the para-athletes," he says.

While the UK is not without its challenges, the infrastructure provides a more stable foundation. The Wheelpower (an NGO which runs and manages disability sports in the UK) CEO Martin McElhatton, knows this too well. Martin McElhatton situates the conversation within the historical and developmental roots of para sport, emphasizing the importance of legacy institutions like Stoke Mandeville in shaping today’s landscape.

Wheelpower CEO Martin McElhatton during our interview inside the Stock Mandeville Stadium in Aylesbury, England.

Speaking from the heart of the movement’s origins, he draws a powerful comparison: “What Athens is to Olympians is what Stoke is to Paralympians,” underscoring the symbolic weight the site carries for athletes with disabilities worldwide. He traces the growth of the movement from its early days, noting how “in 1952 the sport grew and by 1960 the Games were taken to Rome,” marking the transition from a local rehabilitation initiative into an international sporting phenomenon. For McElhatton, organizations like WheelPower play a crucial role in sustaining that legacy—not just by honoring its history, but by investing in grassroots development and ensuring that future generations of para-athletes have the opportunity to participate, compete, and thrive in a system that continues to evolve.

On the other hand one Kenyan is hoping to borrow from these practices and implement them back home. Stephen Ojuang’, a Master's student studying Disability Sport at the University of Exeter, brings a practitioner’s urgency to the classification debate; shaped by both his academic training and hands-on involvement in para sport. Having volunteered at international events to better understand the system, he sees classification not as a distant policy issue but as something that directly determines athletes’ futures.

Sports Art Master's Student Stephen Ojuang' during our interview at a sports court yard.

Reflecting on his motivation, he explains, “I volunteer to acquire practical experience so as to assimilate it back in Kenya,” highlighting his goal of transferring knowledge to improve local structures. But he is equally candid about the flaws he has observed, particularly the harsh judgments athletes face, noting that “sometimes an athlete is told they are not disabled enough.” For Ojuang’, such statements reveal a system that can feel arbitrary and dehumanizing, reinforcing his belief that Kenya must urgently invest in building its own classification capacity to protect athletes from being sidelined on the global stage.

The Policy Gap in Kenya & What Needs to Change

The challenges facing Kenya’s para-athletes ultimately point to a system that is not just underdeveloped, but unevenly aligned with global standards. While countries like the United Kingdom have built strong institutional frameworks that support athletes from grassroots to elite level, Kenya continues to grapple with gaps in classification, funding, and policy implementation. At the heart of the issue is the absence of locally certified classifiers, a shortfall that leaves athletes exposed to uncertainty and last-minute decisions on the international stage. Combined with limited investment in grassroots programmes and a lack of structured development pathways, this creates an environment where talent exists but is rarely maximized. The result is a recurring cycle in which athletes are forced to navigate barriers that have little to do with their ability, ultimately costing the country both medals and morale.

Closing this gap will require a deliberate and coordinated effort that brings together government agencies, sports federations, and international bodies such as the International Paralympic Committee. Kenya must prioritize the training and accreditation of classifiers to ensure that assessments are conducted locally, consistently, and well ahead of major competitions. At the same time, increased funding for grassroots initiatives and partnerships with established organizations like Disability Rights UK could help build a more inclusive and sustainable sporting ecosystem. Equally important is the need for greater transparency and accountability within the classification process itself, so that athletes understand how decisions are made and can trust the system meant to support them. With the right investment, policy direction, and commitment to inclusion, Kenya has the potential not only to match the UK’s progress, but to become a leader in para sport across the African continent.

Link to the full documentary on my youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH-zWDypeXo&t=465s