Anne Wafula Strike
Anne Wafula Strike MBE (born 8 May 1969) is a Harlow-based British Paralympic wheelchair racer. Born in Mihuu, Kenya, she contracted polio at the age of two, resulting in a later Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital diagnosis of below T7 paralysis.[1] Arriving in the UK in April 2000, she was introduced to wheelchair racing in 2002 and in 2004 became the first Kenyan wheelchair racer to represent her country, competing in the T53[2] 400m finals at the Paralympics in Athens. Following a successful application for British citizenship in 2006, she became a member of Team GB and, after reclassification, now competes in the T54 racing category as a British athlete. A past winner of the BBC's 'My Story' competition,[3] her autobiography In my Dreams I Dance was published by HarperCollins in 2010.[4]
She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to disability sport and charity.[5]
References
- ↑ http://www.apparelyzed.com/support/functionality/t5-t9.html
- ↑ http://ipc-athletics.paralympic.org/export/sites/ipc_sports_athletics/Classification/2010_07_16_IPC_Athletics_Classification_Handbook_2006.pdf
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/my-story/stories/winners/
- ↑ Wafula Strike, Anne (2010). In My Dreams I Dance, HarperCollins, London. ISBN 978-0-00-735428-3.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60895. p. b24. 14 June 2014.