Paris 2024: Kashafali goes from hunger to happiness

Before he gets into the starting blocks on the track, Salum Ageze Kashafali dances. And if he wins? He dances some more.

A nod to his African background, it made Kashafali a popular figure at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, where he won gold in the 100m T12 race.

"In Congo, music and dance is a central part of everyday life and I like to bring that with me into my life now, especially onto the racing tracks where I like to have fun," he said.

"But I also dance for myself. When I get on the tracks, I often get very nervous and dancing before the competition makes all the pressure disappear. It is a way to tell myself that 'you're going to win' and put myself in a situation where there's no chance that I'm not going to win.”

While Kashafali competes for Norway, he grew up in the village of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the first 10 years of his life were about survival.

"Every day of my childhood, for as long as I can remember, evolved around how to find food for myself and my family," Kashafali said.

"We did everything from begging on the street to stealing or eating soup that someone had thrown away. Weeks often went by between the times that we got fed."

In 2003, Kashafali's family fled the country's civil war and ended up in Bergen, Norway.

"We were pretty much born again, getting a new chance to be a human," said Kashafali, now 30. "My goal when I came to Norway was to study and get into sports, so I played football until I lost my eyesight." 

"The beauty of sports is that then I found athletics and a new career started," he said. "It was important for me to be able to continue with sports because it's something that ties us all together and makes us stronger, no matter what origin, culture, age or disability you have. I never got to be a child, but now I get to have fun like one, and I'm incredibly happy for that."

Four years after taking up his new sport, Kashafali won Paralympic gold. He believes his tough background has given him a mental strength and advantage as an athlete.

"The experiences from my childhood have given me a dedication that gives me a small advantage over everyone else," he said.

Competing in the 100m T13 at Paris 2024, Kashafali is confident. "There's only one person who can beat me here and that is myself," he said. 

"My goal is to go from Paralympian to Olympian. I'm already best in Norway amongst able-bodied athletes. They dream about the Olympic Games and world championships, so I might as well do the same as I'm already beating them. I need to get under 10.20 or 10.10 (seconds at 100m). Why not?

"I have to believe in it, and I am 100% sure, with every fibre in my body, that it is fully possible. That journey will be the easiest one, since the starting point I've got now is completely different to the one I've had at any point earlier in life."

But for now, his focus is on winning another gold medal, and dancing again, at the Paralympic Games. “I want to show my joy through dance and I look forward to showing a new dance here,” he said.