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Kenya’s Ong’eta makes history with gold at World Para-Athletics Grand Prix
Kenya's Jairus Ong'eta poses with his gold medal after winning men's 100metres T13 at the World Para-Athletics Grand Prix in Dubai on February 12, 2025.
What you need to know:
- However, his long wait ended on Wednesday evening when he made history as the first person with albinism to represent Kenya on the global stage.
- Having won both the 100m and 200m races at the National Para Athletics Championships two weeks ago, Ong’eta hopes his international debut will inspire others with his condition to pursue sports.
Kenya’s para sprinter Jairus Ong’eta can now dare to dream.
Not only did the 28-year-old finally get to represent the country for the first time after securing official classification, but he also stormed to victory in the men’s 100 metres T13 final at the World Para-Athletics Grand Prix in Dubai on Wednesday evening.
Ong’eta, who is visually impaired and lives with albinism, clocked 11.47 seconds to claim gold, edging out neutral athletes Dzmitry Kaskevich (11.49) and Yury Kaniuk (12.08), who settled for silver and bronze, respectively.
His triumph brought Kenya’s total medal tally at the four-day championship to nine—five gold and four bronze.
Elsewhere, Evans Rutto dominated the men’s 1,500m T38/46/47 final, while Paris Paralympics long jump T37 silver medallist Samson Ojuka settled for bronze in the men’s long jump T36/37/38 final.
Ong’eta, a music graduate from Kenyatta University, has been fighting for classification in the 100m and 200m events since 2021. Despite excelling at last year’s national trials for the World Para-Athletics Morocco and Dubai Grand Prix, he was unable to secure a visa due to his lack of classification.
However, his long wait ended on Wednesday evening when he made history as the first person with albinism to represent Kenya on the global stage.
Having won both the 100m and 200m races at the National Para Athletics Championships two weeks ago, Ong’eta hopes his international debut will inspire others with his condition to pursue sports.
“I want to inspire people with albinism to come out and embrace sports and, more so, for those handling classification to speed up the process,” said Ong’eta, who is coached by Duncan Ayiemba, former trainer of Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala.
In the men’s 1,500m T38/46/47, Rutto clocked 4:04.57 to secure gold ahead of Sri Lanka’s Pradeep Puwakpitikande (4:05.57) and Algeria’s Abdelkrim Krai (4:15.56), who took silver and bronze, respectively.
Ojuka registered a jump of 5.55m to clinch bronze in the men’s long jump T36/37/38 final, finishing behind Malaysia’s Muhammad Nazm Nasri (5.94m) and Mauritius’ Mitchell Prosper (5.99m), who won silver and gold.
