Vanuatuan javelin thrower expresses gratitude to Korea for supporting him to participate in Paris Paralympics

Ken Kahu of Vanuatu, who competed in the F64 final of the men‘s javelin throw at the Paris Paralympic Games. Courtesy of the Paris Paralympics

A javelin thrower from Vanuatu, an Oceania island country, who trained by throwing avocados, stood on the stage of this year’s Paris Paralympics with the help of the Korean sports community.

Ken Kahu (25) finished ninth out of 10 in the F64 final of the men‘s javelin throw at the Paris Paralympic Games at the Stade de France in Paris, France, on September 3 (local time), recording 52.01 meters. He broke his personal best (48.17 meters) in the second period. Although he did not win a medal, he achieved his dream of participating in the Paralympics.

Vanuatu is an island country in the Pacific Ocean east of Australia. Of the 80 islands, 65 are uninhabited, and the population is only 330,000. The country had two track-and-field athletes competing at the Sydney Paralympics in 2000 and one weight lifter at the Beijing Paralympics in 2008. After that, the country was unable to send a player to the Paralympics due lack of budget and training facilities. But this year, women’s shot putter Ellie Enock (35) and Kahu participated in the Paris Paralympics thanks to the support of the Korean Paralympic Committee and the BDH Foundation.

Ken Kahu (left) poses for a photo with Bae Dong-hyun (center), chairman of the BDH Foundation, during his visit to Para Team Korea House in Paris on September 4. Courtesy of the the Korean Paralympic Committee

The BDH Foundation was founded and is chaired by Bae Dong-hyun, vice chairman of Changsung Group, who created Changsung Construction where Shin Eui-hyun, a gold medalist at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Paralympics, belongs to. Bae created the foundation to support more sports for the disabled. He helped countries with poor conditions for disability sports, such as those in Latin America, Africa, and Oceania.

Bae has even traveled to some of these countries, including Vanuatu, with Jeong Jin-wan, president of the Korean Paralympic Committee. They supported the hosting of competitions and the participation of players so that they could receive international sports grades, and sponsored Paralympic committees from each country.

In October last year, a tripartite agreement was signed between the Korean Paralympic Committee, the Oceania Paralympic Committee, and the BDH Foundation to support disability sports in six countries, including Vanuatu. Kahu was one of the first athletes to compete in the Paralympics with the help of the BDH Foundation. Kahu is also one of the athletes to participate in the Paralympics for the first time with the help of the BDH Foundation.

Kahu usually worked at an avocado farm and practiced throwing avocados as there were no javelins. He visited Para Team Korea House on the day and met with Bae again.

“It’s an honor to represent Vanuatu at the Paralympics,” Kahu said. ”I didn‘t even know about Korea before this. I am so grateful to the people of Korea and the BDH Foundation.” Vanuatu Paralympic Committee President Margaret McFarlane said, “With the help of Bae, our athletes were able to participate in the Paralympics and train overseas. Thank you.”

Bae said, “I was more impressed. I was very happy to see the parents of the athletes proud of them. The people of Vanuatu were proud of their athletes and raised money for them. I was very happy to see that.”

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.