When it comes to finding inspiration in life, we tend to look at big stars and celebrities who have accomplished something outside of their domain and are talking about it on social media. Very rarely do we hear about success stories that have literally started from the ground up and taken years, if not a decade to accomplish. It’s an amazing that India’s first Olympic gold medal in an individual sport was actually won by Devendra Jhajharia, who is a para athlete. He’s an amputee who won the javelin throw competition and set a world record in 2004.
There are many stories across India about Para-Olympic athletes that have taken the world by a storm; and reached heights that some have seen to be unattainable by any measure. There are a billion people in our country and only a handful, let alone being disabled, manage to be a part of the nation’s pride. These para athletes have taken the world by a storm with their inspiring stories.
Ankur Dhama
Ankur was born in a small village in Uttar Pradesh. He lost his vision at the age of 6 due to an injury, and even after many operations, it couldn’t be restored. When he entered school, he took to sports like a moth to a flame, and loved every second of it. Despite being blind, he loved playing cricket, ran track and swam all through his schooling years. He was the best athlete among his peers.
Ankur began his training in 2006 and first competed internationally winning two gold medals the World Youth and Student Championships (2009). He broke many records for his category and was touted as a rising star in his league. He also won many gold medals at Para games across the world in various running events, and brought fame and acknowledgement to his small village in UP.
What was most interesting is that he also competed in a Football championship in Thailand and became the first person to score a goal for India in a blind-international football tournament.
But his journey was far from perfect. Ankur faced a lot of challenges in obtaining funding. He didn’t know how to sponsor international events and how to make enough everyday to fuel his body with energy and nutrition. He faced a lot of heat from his village and they did not support him in his journey. He continued to train 4 hours a day and ran 30kms daily, along with regular exercises and competitions. Luckily Ankur found a sponsor in the GoSports Foundation, a non-profit focused on developing young talent in the Para-Olympics category, and gained guidance from previous medal winners to excel further in his journey. Ankur came from nothing and has now become one of India’s top para-athletes!
Suyash Narayan Jadhav
Suyash is one of the more dynamic athletes and constantly works hard on his approach to his field. At the age of 11, Suyash touched a loose electric wire and was at the mercy of a massive electric shock. He had to amputate both of his arms after the accident, and has grown up with the disability. What came as a surprise to him, was that his relatives started viewing him as a burden to the family. Nobody around him believed in him, and thought that he could never succeed in life.
More than a decade later, Suyash became the only Indian swimmer to qualify for the Rio Paralympics. He was the child of a national level swimmer and wanted to live out his family’s dreams by competing on the big stage. He won multiple awards across the board, and became one of the few Indian Para-swimmers to represent his country worldwide.
At the age of 23, he’s now become India’s number 1 ranked swimmer in the para-category, and is ranked 12th in the world. His mantra to life is simple – ‘Hard work can take you to great heights. Wins and defeats are secondary when it comes to an athlete’s life.’
Pooja Rani
A great athlete from Rohtak (Haryana), Pooja became one of the few female athletes to compete on such a huge platform. She’s the daughter of a rag picker and was unfortunately diagnosed with poliomyelitis during her early years. Pooja chose to pursue her interest in archery instead and picked up the sport in 2013. Initially, she found it extremely difficult to afford the equipment, training regime, and food and nutrition that come along with the extended hours of training.
Her coach was her guiding light here, helping her through her journey. In 2016, she won her first medal at the National Para Archery Tournament and then got 5th place in the world tournament as well. Pooja disproved her naysayers and showed the whole world how much she could do in little time with lots of practice and training. She loves participating in archery competitions, and her love for shooting is what drives her forward.
