Deaf Sprinter Wins Right to Visual "Starter Gun"

DEAF SPRINTER WINS RIGHT TO VISUAL 'STARTER GUN' Dewi Cooke September 15, 2011 AN 11-YEAR-OLD deaf athlete will be allowed to compete in a national sports competition using a visual prompt instead of a starter's gun after he took his case to the Australian Human Rights Commission. In an outcome closely watched by disability rights groups and Victoria's own government school sports body, Brisbane sprinter Sekou Kanneh will compete this week at the School Sport Australia Primary Track and Field Exchange in Darwin after School Sport Australia agreed to provide a visual prompt for him. Kanneh placed second in the 100 metre and 200 metre events in the Queensland track and field championships last month, but relied on watching other competitors to know when the race gun had fired. School Sport Australia initially refused to provide the additional prompt but agreed to it after meeting with representatives from Deaf Sports Australia in the commission on Monday. Disability advocate Julie Phillips said the decision was important. ''Whenever you have a precedent, it means that the next person who has the same request refers to that precedent and any sensible organisation or person will see that the writing is on the wall,'' she said. Read more: http://tinyurl.com/436p8b2