Another proud moment for both the James family and the Soutpansberg arrived with the news that local Paralympic medallist Sheryl James from Louis Trichardt was officially selected for the South African Paralympic team to represent the country at the upcoming Paris Paralympic Games.

The South African Paralympic team was announced by the South African Sports Confederation, Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SASCOC) on Monday, 8 July, with Sheryl being one of the initial squad of 26 athletes to represent Team South Africa at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris from 28 August to 8 September. Qualification windows have not closed for a number of codes, including Para Athletics, Para Judo, Para Triathlon, and Wheelchair Tennis, which means that more names will be added before the team departs for Paris in August.

The 26 athletes announced represent seven different sporting codes, and the squad is made up of a mixture of experienced and first-time Paralympians, including three medallists from the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics (held in 2021). Sheryl is among the three, winning a bronze medal in athletics. The other two Paralympic medallists are Pieter du Preez (one gold medal in cycling) and Louzanne Coetzee (one bronze and one silver medal in athletics).

For Sheryl to be included in the SA squad is no small feat. Not only is she a Soutpansberger, but also the only athlete from Limpopo currently selected for the team. As for her participation in this year’s Paralympics, she will compete in the T37 100m, 200m, and 400m class.

“It is a privilege to represent my country for a second Paralympics, and I want to thank my Father in heaven for his continued grace. I also want to thank Elmien van der Goot and Karen Louw, who have remained supportive of me. Their consistent help over the years has kept me fighting fit. Words can't express the gratitude that I have towards them both. Elmien has been a part of my journey from the start. Karen came into the journey at a later stage but she, like Elmien, has invested herself 100 percent in what I'm doing,” said Sheryl, following her team selection.

Sheryl reflected on her athletics journey so far. “My journey on the track started with a vision for the development of parasport in Limpopo, and that vision has slowly grown with the start of the Isability Club and the growth of our impact on remote areas in the province. For me, athletics is about a team, not an individual,” she said.

Sheryl said that with the Isability Club development initiatives, two of their upcoming young adult athletes, Masala Makatu and Shaun Maila, had become her training partners on the track in the recent season, and hopefully, they too would achieve their dreams, together with all the other people they reached, whether for competitive participation or recreational activation and awareness of career opportunities. “I'd also like to thank the community for all the messages of encouragement. I am always aware that they are fully behind me,” said Sheryl.

The team announcement on Monday took place at Olympic House in Johannesburg. In congratulating the athletes who have been announced, Barry Hendricks, president of SASCOC, had this to say: “It always brings great pleasure to announce any team that will represent South Africa at a multi-code Games, with the Paralympics being the pinnacle for any athlete.”