Deaflympics: Trailblazing cyclist eyeing podium finish in first career international race
Reading Time: 3min | Fri. 10.10.25. | 14:42
The 33-year-old took up the sport only for recreation, but will be among the medal contenders next month
When Kenya’s deaf cyclist Brenda Bwire lines up in Tokyo, Japan for the 25th Summer Deaflympics set for 15-26 November, she will not just be making history for herself, but for the whole nation as well.
Bwire, 33, will represent Kenya in cycling at the quadrennial multi-sport event alongside Simon Njoroge, also 33.
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It will mark the first time that Kenya is competing in cycling at the Deaflympics.
Bwire reckoned that being among the first two Kenyans to race at the Summer Games is a great honour to her, and she hopes to make the moment even more memorable by winning a medal.
“I am very relieved that we will be going to Japan,” she said shortly after winning the women’s deaf category at the Jubilee Insurance Grand Nairobi Bike Race held last weekend.
“I am very happy to get this opportunity and my goal is to win medals and make the country proud."
Buoyed by her victory, Bwire declared that she was fit and ready for the Deaflympics showdown that awaits in Tokyo.
“My target was a podium finish, and I achieved exactly that in style- by striking gold. I am now very ready for the showpiece in Japan,” she declared. “I have always trained hard and I will continue to do so until when we get there.”
She, alongside Njoroge, earned slots at the Summer Games by winning the women’s, and men’s races respectively in the national trials held at Kasarani in Nairobi in August.
Bwire started cycling when she was 14 in Mombasa, and has never looked back since then.
Initially, she pedaled just for recreational purposes, but after her interest grew, joined cycling groups before embracing the sport while studying at the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA) in Mombasa.
“I was just riding for reaction, then later on I joined groups and started thinking about taking cycling seriously," she said. "When I joined school, I felt motivated to do it as a sport. My mother started supporting me and ever since I have been cycling with my hearing colleague.”
In 2021, Bwire clinched a gold medal in a triathlon competition held in Turkey, where she was the only deaf in the competition.
With exclusive deaf races not common in Kenya, Bwire has often competed alongside hearing cyclists, a practice she said has made her a better cyclist. However, it has come with its fair share of challenges.
“As deaf person, there is always a lot of confusion about which routes to use. We are always getting stuck and when training there is a lot of confusion on the road. Sometimes we do not have someone guiding us. It is easy for the hearing people to know but for us it is a bit hard,” she said.
On his part, the Kenya Deaf Cycling team head coach Steve Odongo thanked the government for supporting the team ahead of Tokyo.
Odongo declared that his charges are ready for the competition saying: “We thank the State for giving us support so that we can go to the Deaflympics. We feel that we are very ready for it. We have prepared well and we are promising Kenyans to return home with the glittering gold medals."
