Welsh Para-shot put and discus thrower Funmi Oduwaiye is eyeing a medal on Worlds debut
Welsh Para-shot put and discus thrower Funmi Oduwaiye is eyeing gold as she makes her senior GB debut at the World Para-Athletics Championships in Paris.
The championships are the first to be held since 2019, and take place just a year before the 2024 Paralympic Games, which will also be held in the French capital.
Oduwaiye, 20, is one of seven Welsh athletes in the Great Britain and Northern Ireland squad, which also includes three-time Paralympic champion Aled Davies.
The Welsh contingent for the event from 8-17 July is completed by Hollie Arnold, Olivia Breen, Sabrina Fortune, Michael Jenkins and Harrison Walsh.
A former Wales basketball international, Oduwaiye took up Para-athletics in 2022, following multiple surgeries to try to correct knock knees – a condition where there is a large gap between a person’s feet when they’re standing with their knees together.
“I just wanted to finish college first, but I had knock knees giving me issues whenever I played, so it was a just a case of I wanted to go in had surgery to straighten my legs out and then carry on with the rest of my [basketball] career,” said Oduwaiye.
“There were complications from there, so I’ve had almost 10 surgeries in the past three years to try to fix that.
“I’ve got hypersensitivity in my foot which causes a lot of pain so walking is a challenge for me let alone running or playing basketball.
“It’s still not quite there yet obviously, but it meant I couldn’t play basketball anymore.”
Oduwaiye was keen to remain in sport in some capacity and attempted multiple sports when she was “in the right headspace” before being drawn to Para-athletics.
“I tried wheelchair basketball for a while, it’s a great sport, very challenging as well.
“However it didn’t feel the same as basketball so yeah it was a surprise that I could get anywhere with sport and a high level again which I’m severely happy about.”
Oduwaiye credits her faith in God for helping her to get through her surgeries and recovery.
“I have to give all the glory to God really, he’s the one that got me through it,” she said.
“I can name a number of people that have helped me along the way, but I feel like it was God moving through them.
“He’s the one who gave me the strength to carry on and get through things.
“He knew he was closing one door but opening another greater one as you can see so I give all the glory to him for me standing here today.”
The Cardiff athlete has a large family and is excited at the prospect of them watching her compete.
“The family are looking at going, it’s quite short notice, but definitely looking at it, trying to bring some of their friends too.
“I don’t know if I want them there really only because it’s my first major comp and I’ll be nervous as it is, but it might help having them there.
“My brothers live in different areas to me and they haven’t seen me compete yet.
“There’s a first time for everything, so I kind of want to impress them!
“My sister has seen me compete, my mum has seen me compete, I want to impress my dad as well, obviously.”
Despite some nerves, Oduwaiye is confident in her chances of earning a medal in France.
“All I can hope for is the gold medal really, any medal will do really, but the gold medal is what I want to get, we’ll see.”
“It’s been an unexpected journey for me, so just thrilled with moving to the next level pretty rapidly.”
Great Britain and Northern Ireland team:
Women: Kare Adenegan (T34 100m and 800m), Fabienne Andre (T34 100m and 800m), Hollie Arnold (F46 javelin), Olivia Breen (T38 long jump and 100m), Lydia Church (F12 shot put), Hannah Cockroft (T34 100m, 800m and 4x100m universal relay), Sabrina Fortune (F20 shot put), Kayleigh Haggo (T72 100m), Sophie Hahn (T38 100m, 200m and 4x100m universal relay), Sammi Kinghorn (T53 100m, 400m, 800m and 4x100m universal relay), Maria Lyle (T35 100m and 200m), Anna Nicholson (F35 shot put), Funmi Oduwaiye (F64 shot put and discus), Eden Rainbow-Cooper (T54 800m, 1500m and 5,000m), Ali Smith (T38 100m, 400m and 4x100m universal relay), Hannah Taunton (T20 1500m), Mel Woods (T54 400m, 800m and 1500m)
Men: Columba Blango (T20 400m), Jonathan Broom-Edwards (T64 high jump), Steven Bryce (T20 1500m), Karim Chan (T38 long jump), Richard Chiassaro (T54 400m), Barney Corrall (T37 long jump), Aled Davies (F63 shot put), David Devine (T13 5000m), Gavin Drysdale (T72 100m), Dan Greaves (F64 discus), Michael Jenkins (F38 shot put), Kyle Keyworth (T35 100m and 200m), Nathan Maguire (T54 400m, 800m and 1500m), Owen Miller (T20 1500m), Luke Nuttall (T46 1500m), Emmanuel Oyinbo-Coker (T47 100m and 4x100m universal relay), Jonnie Peacock (T64 100m and 4x100m universal relay), Dan Pembroke (F13 javelin) Marcus Perrineau-Daley (T52 100m), Ben Sandilands (T20 1500m), Kevin Santos (T47 100m), Zac Shaw (T12 100m and 4x100m universal relay), Daniel Sidbury (T54 400m, 800m, 1500m and 5,000m), Luke Sinnott (T63 long jump), Zak Skinner (T13 long jump), Rafi Solaiman (T72 100m), Harrison Walsh (F64 discus), Thomas Young (T38 100m)