The Paralympics were held in Tokyo, Japan, from August 25 to September 6, 2021. Individual athletes are more prominent at the Paralympics than they are at the Olympics, where several group sports predominate.
Whether it’s shooting, archery, wrestling, or badminton, each athlete’s story is one of extraordinary effort and persistence. We’ll look at a few of them here.
1. Palak Kohli
Palak’s left hand was born with a defect that prohibited it from developing properly. However, this did not deter her from participating in athletics.
Palak took it upon herself to succeed in any sport and show herself after being refused chances to play during PE courses at her school.
She contacted para-badminton instructor Gaurav Khanna and agreed to train with him on a regular basis. She relocated from Jalandhar to Lucknow and joined full-time at his academy.
In 2019, she began competing in national and international events, as well as qualifying for the Tokyo Paralympics.
2. Jyoti Baliyan
Jyoti, a 27-year-old Uttar Pradesh native, is the sole Indian woman archer competing in the Tokyo Paralympics.
Jyoti, the daughter of a farmer, was tragically injured as a child when she received the wrong injection in her leg. As a result, she contracted Polio. The youthful lady, however, did not give up on her dream of being a sportsperson and began archery in 2009.
She is now ranked 17th in the world and one of the best para-archers in the country. She won this medal at the World Championships in the Netherlands, qualifying her for the Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
3. Pramod Bhagat
Pramod’s father, a mill worker, was given a difficult choice by the doctors: save his son’s hands or legs because Pramod was diagnosed with Polio at the age of five and his hands were chosen by his father. Pramod’s left leg became ineffectual as a result of polio.
But this didn’t stop Pramod from becoming enthralled by sports as a child. He used to play badminton with his neighbors when he was in his teens, which he claims gave him greater strength. Pramod would always practice alongside able-bodied older players because of his love for the sport, which led him to enroll in professional training. He soon became so good that he began to compete in regular tournaments and even won district tournaments.
Then he turned his attention to para-badminton, where he made his international debut in 2009. After ten years, he has competed in six international competitions and qualified for the Tokyo Paralympics.
4. Parul Parmar
Parul Parmar, a Gujarati woman, was diagnosed with Polio in her left leg when she was three years old. In the same year, she suffered a significant injury to her collarbone, which required surgery.
Doctors recommended that she exercise daily to stay fit after she recovered from her terrible accident as a child. Parul’s father, a keen badminton player, dragged her along and forced her to work out. She quickly took up a racquet and began playing badminton, eventually competing in tournaments. In 2009, the 49-year-old got the Arjuna Award as well as the Eklavya Award. As per The Better India.