Salum Ageze Kashafali

Salum Ageze Kashafali (born 25 November 1993) is a Norwegian Paralympic athlete who competes in the T12 classification of sprinting events.^[1] He is a Paralympic champion and silver medallist, two-time world champion and a European champion in the 100 metres. Kashafali won the gold medal in the men's 100 metres T12 event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics and the silver medal in the men's 100 metres T13 event at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.^[2][3]

Salum Ageze Kashafali

Kashafali in 2022
Personal information
Born	(1993-11-25) 25 November 1993 (age 31) Goma, Zaire[citation needed]
Sport
Country	Norway
Sport	Athletics Para-athletics
Disability	Vision impairment
Disability class	T12
Event	100 metres
Medal record Representing  Norway Men's para-athletics Paralympic Games 2020 Tokyo 100 m T12 2024 Paris 100 m T13 World Championships 2019 Dubai 100 m T12 2023 Paris 100 m T13 2024 Kobe 100 m T13 European Championships 2021 Bydgoszcz 100 m T12 Men's athletics Norwegian Championships 2019 Hamar 100 m

Kashafali holds world records in the T12 and T13 classification of the 100 metres, with a time of 10.43 set at the 2020 Summer Paralympics and a time of 10.37 set at the Bislett Games in 2023 respectively.^[4][5][6][7] The latter record makes him the fastest Paralympian in the 100 metres event in history, regardless of disability.

Kashafali is visually impaired as a result of Stargardt disease.^[8]

Career

In 2019, Kashafali competed both in able-bodied and para-athletic competitions. In June 2019, he set a new world record of 10.45s in the 100 metres T12 event at the Bislett Games held in Oslo, Norway.^[9] In August 2019, at the 2019 Norwegian Athletics Championships, he won the gold medal in the men's 100 metres with a time of 10.37s.

At the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Kashafali won the gold medal in the men's 100 metres T12 event with a time of 10.54s. This meant that he qualified to represent Norway at the 2020 Summer Paralympics held in Tokyo, Japan.^[10]

In 2021, Kashafali won the gold medal in the men's 100 metres T12 event at the 2021 World Para Athletics European Championships held in Bydgoszcz, Poland.^[11]

Personal life

Kashafali was born in Goma on November 25, 1993.^[12] When a civil war broke out in Congo, Kashafali and his family fled the country and ended up in a refugee camp.^[13] The family came to Norway in 2003 and lived a brief period in Vadsø before settling in Bergen.^[14]

Achievements

Athletics

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
2019	Bislett Games	Oslo, Norway	1st	100 m	10.45 s
	Norwegian Athletics Championships	Børstad, Hamar Municipality	1st	100 m	10.37 s

Para-athletics

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Norway
2019	World Championships	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	1st	100 m	10.54 s
2021	European Championships	Bydgoszcz, Poland	1st	100 m	10.70 s
	Summer Paralympics	Tokyo, Japan	1st	100 m	10.43 s
2023	World Championships	Paris, France	1st	100 m	10.45 s
2024	World Championships	Kobe, Japan	3rd	100 m	10.79 s
	Summer Paralympics	Paris, France	2nd	100 m	10.47 s

References

1. "Salum Ageze Kashafali". paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
2. Berkeley, Geoff (29 August 2021). "Kashafali reflects on journey from refugee to fastest man in Paralympic history". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
3. "Records Set" (PDF). 2020 Summer Paralympics. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
4. Berkeley, Geoff (2021-08-29). "Kashafali reflects on journey from refugee to fastest man in Paralympic history". www.insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
5. Folvik, Herman; Helle, Magnus; Delebekk, Bjørn S. (2023-06-16). "Kashafali hyller assistenter etter verdensrekord: – Det er ubeskrivelig". VG (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2024-09-01.
6. "Athletics - Men's 100 m T12 – Results". paralympic.org. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
7. "100m Result" (PDF). sportresult.com. 15 June 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 July 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
8. Rowbottom, Mike (30 November 2020). "Mike Rowbottom: Reality checkpoints that tell the tale of Para-athletes". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
9. "New world record!". IAAF Diamond League. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
10. "2019 World Para Athletics Championships - Results - Men's 100m T12 Final" (pdf). IPC. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
11. "Men's 100 metres T12 Final" (PDF). 2021 World Para Athletics European Championships. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
12. Strøm, Ole Kristian (2021-08-29). "– Det var en seier å komme til Norge. Alt dette er bonus i livet mitt". VG (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2024-09-01.
13. Godø, Øyvind (2022-06-13). ""Blir vi her, så dør vi i kveld"". dagbladet.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2024-09-01.
14. Lote, Arve (2019-08-09). "Verdsrekordhaldar Kashafali: – Vi kunne bli og døy, eller vi kunne flykte og ta sjansen". NRK (in Norwegian Nynorsk). Retrieved 2023-04-03.

External links

• Salum Ageze Kashafali at World Athletics
• Salum Ageze Kashafali at Diamond League
• Salum Ageze Kashafali at Paralympic.org
• Salum Ageze Kashafali at IPC.InfostradaSports.com (archived)
• Salum Ageze Kashafali at Team Norway (in Norwegian)
• Salum Ageze Kashafali at the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympics
• Salum A. Kashafali on Instagram
• "Salum Ageze Kashafali". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon.