Morocco to Participate in Paris World Para-Athletics Championships

Rabat – The Moroccan national team will participate from July 8 to 17 in the World Para-Athletics Championships to be held in Paris.

The Royal Moroccan Federation of Sports for People with Disabilities (FRMSPSH) issued today a press release announcing that the tournament will see the participation of 1,700 competitors from 120 countries, including Morocco with 18 athletes.

This event, which is regarded as the world’s second-largest competition for disabled athletes after the Paralympic Games, is governed by the international organization World Para-Athletics, the statement noted.

These world championships being a trial run before the Paralympic Games in 2024, FRMSPSH said Morocco’s representatives will be traveling to the French capital with big goals in mind.

Among the eighteen Moroccan delegation heading for Paris, there are Ayoub Sadni (T47, 400 meters), Zakariae Derhem (F33, shot put), Saida Amoudi (F34, shot put), Youssra Karim (F41, discus throw), Fouzia El Kassioui (F33, shot put), Zakariae Ez Zouhri (F44 javelin throw), Hayat El Garaa (F41, discus throw), and Norelhouda El Kaoui (F55, discus throw).

Ayoub Sadni earned the gold medal in the T47 400 meters at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo last year, where members of the Moroccan national para-athletic squad distinguished themselves. Athletes with a disability or below elbow or wrist amputation compete in the T47 division.

At the 2019 World Championships in Dubai, Sadni also ranked third in the T47 400 meters category.

At the Tokyo Olympics, discus throw champion Youssra Karim beat off fellow Moroccan teammate Hayat El Garaa for the silver medal in the women’s F41 category for short stature.

Behind China’s Zou Lijuan and Poland’s Lucyna Kornobys, Saida Amoudi took home the bronze medal in the women’s F34 shot-put competition. Morocco’s first medal at the Paralympics was won by Amoudi.