WRITTEN BY: SABAH TASLIM
EDITED BY: DARSHNA GUPTA
The Paralympics is one of the few events that perfectly encapsulates the spirit of dedication. All of the inspiring Paralympians competing in the quadrennial tournament have overcome difficulties in their life, but they have never given up on their ambition of representing their nation at the greatest level.
We’ve hand-picked our favorite Paralympian stories to inspire our readers and give more perspective to the event, with their tales motivating and affecting the audience in equal measure.
Avni Lekhara
Lekhara, 20, is the current World No. 5 in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 category and competed in her first Paralympics in Tokyo. Her spinal cord was damaged in a catastrophic automobile accident in 2012, forcing her to use a wheelchair. After her father’s support, she decided to try her hand at professional shooting and archery three years later. She was motivated to pursue the former seriously after reading Abhinav Bindra’s book, A Shot At History: My Obsessive Journey To Olympic Gold, by India’s first individual Olympic gold medalist.
She juggled athletics and academics to get to where she is now as a BA LLB student. In an interview she said:
“Every athlete’s ambition is to represent their nation and win a gold. For the past five to six years, I’ve been training. During the epidemic, I put up a target in my house. Because of my training, I haven’t been able to attend college. My schoolwork suffered as a result, and I was unable to complete my examinations. The hardest sacrifice has been putting my schoolwork aside and focusing only on the sport. Because I was constantly practicing, I missed my friends’ reunions, birthdays, and other celebrations.”
Bhavina Patel
Event: Women’s Team – Classes 4-5 and Women’s Singles
Notably, Bhavina became only the 2nd Indian woman after Paralympics Committee of India chief Deepa Mailk to win a medal at the Paralympics. Bhavina Hasmukhbhai Patel is an Indian parathlete and table tennis player from Mehsana, Gujarat. She won a silver medal in Class 4 Table tennis at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo. Abhinav Bindra hailed Bhavina Patel’s historic achievement in an open letter to the paralympian, writing that her achievements in Tokyo would undoubtedly serve as an inspiration to millions throughout the country.
Sonalben Patel
Event: Women’s Team – Classes 4-5 and Women’s Singles – Class 3
Sonalben Manubhai Patel was afflicted with polio at the age of six months, and the disease eventually damaged both her legs and her right hand, leaving her 90 percent disabled. Sonalben overcame the obstacles of her handicap with the aid and support of her parents. Because of her handicap, Sonalben was turned down for a primary teaching programme in Ahmedabad. She subsequently participated in an industrial training programme at the city’s Blind People’s Association. Tejalben Lakhia, the institute’s administrator, urged her to take up table tennis, and she began practicing with Lalan Doshi, her coach.
Jyoti Baliyan
Event: Women’s individual compound – Open (W2/ST) and mixed team compound – Open
Baliyan is India’s sole female archer who has qualified for the Paralympics in Tokyo. Baliyan, who is from Uttar Pradesh, aspired to be a volleyball player but had to give up that goal after contracting polio at the age of ten. Her father introduced her to archery, and she became hooked. In the 2020 game, Jyoti, had qualified 15th with a score of 671, lost to Kerrie-Lousie — who scored 657 in the ranking round — 137-141 in the 15-arrow elimination round.
Simran Sharma
Event: Women’s 100m T13
Simran Sharma is the first Indian female para-athlete to qualify for the Tokyo Paralympics in the 100m dash. She has also taken up loans to help her pay for her training. Her visual impairment makes it difficult for her to see more than seven to ten meters. In 2019, she won gold at the Para Athletics GP in China. In February this year, she clocked 12.74 seconds for another gold, at the World Para Athletics GP in Dubai. Sharma stated that others teased her and called her “andhi” (blind) since she couldn’t see beyond 7-10 metres owing to her poor vision. She also said that she never saw herself getting this far because her parents couldn’t afford to pay for her education, but that her husband has been a huge support and the sole reason for her success.
Kashish Lakra
Event: Women’s Club Throw F51
Kashish Lakra, 17, is the youngest Indian athlete to qualify for the Tokyo Paralympics 2020 in the women’s club throw F51 category, at the age of 17. Lakra was a promising athlete who won a Delhi state medal in skating and qualified for the Khelo India wrestling championships. Her love for athletics was not dimmed by a training mishap in 2017 that left her with significant spinal damage and restricted her to a wheelchair. She learned the sport of club throw as she healed and went on to win gold at the state and national levels. Kashish Lakra has been adamant about pursuing her ambitions and never giving up. She gradually learned the sport of club throw under the direction of her trainer Satyapal Singh, with the help of medicine, physiotherapy, and encouragement from her parents and family. Kashish won gold in the Club Throw events at the state level, as well as silver and gold at the national level.
Ekta Bhyan
Event: Women’s Club Throw F51
When an accident paralysed Ekta at the age of 18, she had to give up her goal of becoming a doctor. During her rehabilitation, she turned to athletics and began training in discus throw under the guidance of paralympian Amit Kumar Saroha, who urged her to pursue a career as a para-athlete. She won gold in club throw at the 2016 Para National Championships, 2017 Para National Championships, and the 2018 Asian Para Games.
Bhagyashri Jadhav
Event: Women’s Shot Put F34
At the World Para Athletics GP earlier this year, Bhagyashri Jadhav won silver with her 6.18m throw. With 23 medals, India tied for second place with Turkey and Kenya at the event. She earned bronze in the women’s javelin F34 at the World Para Athletics GP in Dubai earlier this year. She finished 7th in the in the women’s shot put – F34 final event in the Tokyo Paraolympics.
Parul Parmer
Parmar was diagnosed with polio when he was three years old. She fell from a swing the same year and shattered her leg and collarbone, which took a long time to recover. After following her father, a state-level badminton player, to a local badminton club, she developed an interest in the sport. She competed in her first Para Badminton World Cup at the age of 29. In 2009, she was awarded the Arjuna Award. She has been working as a badminton coach at the Sports Authority of India center in Gandhinagar, Gujarat since 2011.
Prachi Yadav
Event: Women’s Va’a Single 200m – VL2
Prachi Yadav, a national para-swimmer who, at her coach’s request, moved to para-canoe in 2018. He thought that her large arms would help her qualify for the Paralympics in the new sport, and that she would have a better chance of doing so. At the 2019 Para Canoe Championships, she earned her first two medals in the sport, a gold and a silver. For her, qualifying for the 2024 Paralympics in Paris seemed like a reasonable goal. Para-canoe is a relatively new sport in the Paralympics schedule, having debuted in Rio in 2016, and the Gwalior canoeist will be the event’s first-ever and lone Indian competitor.
Here are some more heartwarming stories that you need to read about:
- Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand made history by being the first openly transgender woman to compete in the Olympics. It’s been 18 years since the International Olympic Committee first established a policy allowing transgender athletes to compete. Rather than focusing on her performance in the +87 kg competition, which ended early due to her inability to register a snatch, Hubbard expressed gratitude to the Japanese hosts of the Games as well as the sporting organisations that supported her.
- Following the events in Afghanistan that resulted in the Taliban taking control of the nation, it was first assumed that Afghan paralympians Zakia Khudadadi and Hossain Rasouli would be unable to compete due to their inability to travel to Tokyo. However, with the support of the global community, the two were transported from Kabul to Paris as part of a multinational operation and then to Tokyo, all through a rescue mission.
- The IPC is backing an official refugee team of Paralympians for the first time, with one female and five male athletes inspiring the globe with their stories of resilience despite not legally representing a nation. Alia Issa is the first female refugee athlete to compete in the Paralympic Games. She will compete in the F32 club throw class. She was born with neurological impairment and has lived in Greece and Syria.
The Tokyo event, like with Olympians, had the full support of the government, industry, and media. The media coverage was so widespread throughout the event, which was crucial because, it changes the public views by giving persistent awareness of what sports means to everyone irrespective of their able-ness. Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ), is one such non-profit organization dedicated to instilling the idea of self-belief in Indian athletes as a supplement to government and sports federations, that has been assisting athletes in a spirit of equality. The Paralympic Movement is built on the foundation of basic Paralympic principles, that is determination, equality, inspiration, and courage. Our strong contenders have truly been a representation of these values and have been setting examples for us all.
The Silent Sexism Project 