Taekwondo Para athlete Shauna-Kay Hines will create history this summer as, when she competes in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, she will become the first Jamaican para athlete in the sport to do so.

Her place in the annals of Jamaican sports history was made possible when was given a bi-partite invitation on merit after the qualifying tournaments were cancelled because of the COVID-19 to the pandemic.

Hines’ stock had been rising over the last three years during which time she confirmed her pedigree.

She has a silver medal in the 2018 US Open Taekwondo Championship, a bronze in the 2018 Pan Am and Para Championship, a bronze in the 2019 US Open Taekwondo Championship and bronze in the 2019 Mexico Open TKD Championship, to go along with a bronze in the 2019 Lima Para Pan Am Games, silver in the 2020 Mexico Open TKD and silver in the 2020 Costa Rica Open.

Naturally, Hines was delighted to have been granted the opportunity to compete at the global showcase.

“I am most excited that my journey to the Paralympics is finally coming to a reality and I am thanking God, my family, friends, and supporters,” she said.

“Team Jamaica will be represented in two new disciplines (Para Taekwondo and Para-Judo) which will bring forth and highlight other para-sports and this will attract aspiring para athletes and sponsors.”

Christopher Samuda, president of the Jamaica Paralympic Association (JPA), said: “The Paralympic spirit of conviction and character is exemplified in Shauna-Kay, whose rise in para Taekwondo has been remarkable as she only started the sport some three years ago but the journey with her coaches has been inspiring. The JPA creates opportunities and we say to our athletes, ‘Go and not only occupy yard JA but the world’. Shauna-Kay is now a global citizen of Paralympic sports.”

The Paralympic Games will take place from August 24 to September 5 in Tokyo. Hines and Jamaica’s para athletes will join over 4,400 athletes in competition in 539 events across 22 sports hosted at 21 venues.