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Salum Kashafali: el hombre que no sabe de imposibles

Salum Kashafali, campeón paralímpico en los 100m T12 (discapacidad visual), tuvo que superar muchos obstáculos en su vida, pero nunca se dio por vencido. El velocista noruego charló en exclusiva con AAD: su pasado, su carrera deportiva, su sueño de ser olímpico, y más

Por Joel Katz

Domingo 29 de agosto de 2021. El reloj marca las 21:04 en Tokyo. En el Estadio Olímpico, a esa hora, el velocista de 27 años que corre por Noruega, Salum Kashafali, cruza la meta de los 100m T12 (discapacidad visual). Y lo hace nada menos que rompiendo su propio récord mundial, con un tiempo de 10.43s para consagrarse campeón paralímpico, y convertirse en el atleta paralímpico más rápido de la historia. Detrás de su éxito, hay una muy fuerte historia de superación y lucha personal, con muchos obstáculos superados.

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«El objetivo era estar en los Paralímpicos, y solo tratar de llegar a la final. Una vez que crucé la meta, y noté que era campeón paralímpico, sentí alivio, emoción, felicidad. No podía creer que mi sueño se había vuelto realidad, fue el mejor sentimiento del mundo. No puedo explicarlo, es algo que debe ser experimentado», cuenta Salum sobre el momento que lo coronó como campeón paralímpico. Con este título, ratificó los títulos logrados en el Campeonato Mundial de 2019, y en el Campeonato Europeo de este año, confirmándose como una de las estrellas del para-atletismo mundial.

Si bien para muchos, la postergación de los Juegos en 2020 fue una mala noticia, a Salum le vino bien. «El año pasado no fue un buen año para mí, tuve una lesión. Mi tiempo era bueno, pero no tan bueno como esperaba. Estaba contento de que se hubieran postergado, pero al mismo tiempo estaba triste, porque estaba muy emocionado. Pensé que no era malo, porque era para la seguridad de los atletas». Y, por supuesto, aprovechó para seguir preparándose y mejorando para el año siguiente. «Me concentré en que quería seguir mejorando en la pista, ser un mejor atleta, trabajar en pequeñas cosas en las que no era bueno. Luego, cuando superé mi lesión, pude entrenar como realmente quería».

El momento en que Salum Kashafali se consagró campeón paralímpico en Tokyo 2020. Foto: EFE

Si bien corre para Noruega, Salum Kashafali no nació en el país nórdico. Sus orígenes se remontan a la República Democrática del Congo, donde nació en noviembre de 1993, en la pequeña ciudad de Goma. Su infancia no fue para nada fácil. «Con mis hermanos, de la mañana a la noche, teníamos que buscar comida para comer. A veces teníamos que robar, a veces teníamos que comer comida que gente rica tiraba». Además, le tocó crecer en un contexto muy complicado, coincidiendo con las dos guerras del Congo. Cerca del final de la segunda, en 2003, se acabó su estadía en su país de orígen.

«Una noche, mi papá nos dijo que la guerra finalmente había llegado. Teníamos que escapar; si nos quedábamos, moriríamos, pero si huíamos, teníamos una ligera chance de sobrevivir. Veías bombas por todos lados, gente muriendo». La familia de Salum logró escapar, y se mudó a un campo de refugiados, donde tampoco la pasó bien. «Vivimos allí muchos meses, con poca comida, con mucha enfermedad. Perdí a uno de mis hermanos allí, y yo mismo estuve a punto de morir, estaba muy enfermo». Luego de un tiempo, se les presentó la oportunidad de su vida: mudarse a Noruega, donde comenzarían una nueva etapa.

El título mundial de Salum Kashafali en Dubai 2019, en lo que fue su irrupción en el para-atletismo a nivel internacional

«Fue uno de los días más felices de mi vida, porque sabíamos que podríamos ir a un lugar seguro. En Noruega, tuvimos comida sobre la mesa todos los días, tuvimos la oportunidad de ir a la escuela; de ser una familia normal, chicos normales. Soñar con ser campeón regional, europeo o paralímpico es algo que no estaba en mi mente, ya tenía lo que necesitaba», relata Salum.

Sus problemas, sin embargo, no terminaron con su llegada a Noruega. Ya en Europa, Salum fue diagnosticado con la enfermedad de Stargardt. Esta causa una degeneración precoz de la retina, que afecta principalmente a la mácula, la parte de la retina responsable de la visión central. «Siempre tuve mala visión, pero cuando tenía 17 años pasó de un 80% a un 10%, de repente. Me hizo sentir muy mal, muy pequeño, muy solo. No sabía como iba a funcionar, no sabía como la gente iba a verme». En esos tiempos, Salum ya llevaba un tiempo practicando atletismo, y la pérdida de la visión fue una complicación que, sin embargo, no iba a frenarlo.

«Decidí ser un para-atleta porque la gente decía, cuando perdí mi visión, que nunca sería tan rápido como antes, que no sería un buen atleta. Quería mostrarles a ellos, y a mí mismo, que incluso con mi discapacidad, podía ser tan bueno como cualquiera. Eso me motivó, y usé esa motivación para conocer a otros para atletas, escuchar sus historias, para poder crecer con ellos, y volverme un mejor atleta». Y cuenta que, con sus logros, y todos los de los atletas paralímpicos, quiere hacer una declaración: «somos tan buenos como cualquier atleta, hacemos el mismo trabajo, y a veces hasta el doble que ellos. Ser un para-atleta significa mucho para mí».

Salum logró vencer los prejuicios, y no solo para convertirse en atleta paralímpico, sino para cumplir su otro sueño de la vida: convertirse en profesor. A pesar de las dificultades, logró terminar la secundaria, y luego completó sus estudios universitarios, recibiéndose de profesor de matemáticas. «Encuentro placer en enseñar a otros, y en aprender de otros. Poder enseñarle a una persona curiosa, y aprender de ella, es uno de los mejores regalos de la vida. Cuando era chico, jugaba a ser maestro». De hecho, ya ha trabajado de profesor, aunque cuenta que el último año solo tomó trabajos temporales, ya que se enfocó en su entrenamiento.

Así, luchando contra una infancia dura, y contra una discapacidad visual, Salum Kashafali logró, a pesar de todo, cumplir sus mayores sueños: ser profesor, y convertirse en un atleta de alto nivel. Sin embargo, todavía tiene desafíos por cumplir: Salum apunta a estar en Paris 2024, y no solo en los Paralímpicos. «Pensando de donde vine, y donde estoy ahora, creo que todo es posible. Mi meta es participar en Paris 2024, en los Juegos Olímpicos y en los Paralímpicos, creo que puedo hacerlo. Ya soy el hombre más rápido de Noruega. Si vencí a atletas que sueñan con los Juegos Ol´mpicos, ¿por qué no puedo soñar con lo mismo que ellos?». Y deja una frase motivacional, que no son solo palabras, sino que se basa en su propia experiencia. «Puedes venir de la nada, y volverte campeón paralímpico. Eso demuestra que todo es posible, no importa lo que pase. No hay limitaciones, no hay predicciones, solo yo hago predicciones de dónde quiero estar en la vida».

Foto: Paralympics

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