Kenyan teen skating champion hopes sport will be her ticket out of the country

Record ID: 1671402

  • Title: Kenyan teen skating champion hopes sport will be her ticket out of the country
  • Date: 4th May 2022
  • Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CHUMBANA LIKIZA AND HER SKATING PARTNER TRAINING IN KOROGOCHO SLUM LIKIZA SKATING LIKIZA AND HER SKATING PARTNER MOVING DOWN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) SKATER, CHUMBANA LIKIZA, SAYING: "I can see skating getting me out of here, like overseas for instance. I want to live abroad, I believe that skating will get me out of here and will take me overseas." LIKIZA AND HER MOTHER LOOKING AT SOME OF LIKIZA’S MEDALS (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) SKATER, CHUMBANA LIKIZA, SAYING: "Most of the cash prizes that I have won go towards helping my family. If there is no food at home then it is used for that. I don’t spend much on myself, I use most of it to support my mother." MEDALS (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) SKATER, CHUMBANA LIKIZA, SAYING: "I started skating when I was three years old. Now I am 18 and still skating.” ROOFTOPS IN KOROGOCHO SLUM LIKIZA WALKING THROUGH KOROGOCHO VARIOUS OF LIKIZA PUTTING ON HER SKATES SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) SKATER, CHUMBANA LIKIZA, SAYING: "We still don't know where my sister got my first skates from, but I was not interested at first. I used to keep very bad company. Some of them are pregnant now, and some of the others I started skating with even have families now." STARTING LINE FOR RACE SKATERS AT STARTING LINE SKATERS BEGIN RACING AFTER THE STARTING WHISTLE (SOUNDBITE) (English) SKATING PROMOTER, EDWARD MWANGI, SAYING: "Skating industry in Kenya has been growing, has been thriving as opposed to (the) common notion that it is (only) a sport for the well off. We are here to prove to you that it is a sport for all ages, for all economic backgrounds, for all tribes, for all religions and in Kenya we have had it for a number of years now. Mostly we do it in schools, in learning institutions but we also have communities where they have roller skating, in-line skating as their main sport." VARIOUS OF LIKIZA AND ANOTHER SKATER RACING (SOUNDBITE) (English) SKATING PROMOTER, EDWARD MWANGI, SAYING: "The girls have been doing tremendously well but it has been a challenge because of, you know, the society norms that this thing is too rough, that it is too dangerous." PEOPLE WATCHING THE SKATERS LIKIZA STEPPING ONTO PODIUM AFTER WINNING THE NATIONAL SPEED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIP LIKIZA WITH MEDAL AND PRIZE VARIOUS OF SKATING RACE TAKING PLACE
  • Embargoed: 18th May 2022 09:48
  • Keywords: Chumbana Likiza Edward Mwangi Kenya Korogocho inline skating rollerblade skating
  • Location: NAIROBI, KENYA
  • City: NAIROBI, KENYA
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Africa,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA001566704052022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: In Korogocho, one of Kenya’s toughest slums, 18-year-old Chumbana Likiza and her training partner are sharpening their techniques by skating long and wide curves down a garbage-strewn street.
    Likiza is one of the best speed skaters in the country, a fringe sport in Kenya which most sports fans only know for its legendary mid-to-long distance runners.
    "I can see skating getting me out of here, like overseas for instance. I want to live abroad, I believe that skating will get me out of here and will take me overseas,” said Likiza.
    Skating is one of the world's fastest-growing sports, but its popularity in Kenya is still catching up to global trends. Most young Kenyan skaters like Likiza look up to Sabrina Simader, the only Kenyan that has ever taken part in an international competition. She participated in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
    There are no designated skateparks in Kenya, and women are also underrepresented, but according to skating promoter Edward Mwangi, there are clear signs that the tide is changing.
    "Skating industry in Kenya has been growing, has been thriving as opposed to (the) common notion that it is (only) a sport for the well off," said Mwangi.
    Likiza, who started skating at the age of three, is the reigning Junior Speed Skating champion in Kenya, and dreams of one day representing her national team in international competitions at a senior level.
    (Production: Jeff Kahinju, Monicah Mwangi)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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