Rohan Chowdhury in Paris
Prachi Yadav is an Indian para-canoe athlete, set to participate in her second Paralympic Games, after Tokyo 2020. In the Hangzhou Para Asian Games, Yadav won a gold and a silver medal in the KL2 and VL2 categories. Hailing from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, she trains in Bhopal, also known as the City of Lakes. She praises the city for its brilliant facilities for water sports, which facilitate sports like sailing, canoeing, rowing, kayaking and more. She refers to Bhopal as the “hub of water sports”, in this exclusive conversation with RevSportz.
After the Hangzhou Asian Para Games, she participated in the Asian Para-canoe Championships in Japan, where she won two gold medals in her two categories. But in an unfortunate turn of events, she got a rare infection in her left eye, which hampered her preparations for the Paralympics. “The doctors are not sure how long it will take to recover and it has been troubling me since the last few months.”
She goes to Delhi every week for treatment and is not letting the infection become a hindrance to her preparations. “I want to win a medal for my country in Paris”, said Yadav.
She is undergoing special training under her coach from Romania. “The training is going fine. If the infection doesn’t hurt much, a bronze medal at least is up for the grab,” she said. A Paralympic medal is the only one missing from her cabinet.
Reflecting on her journey, Prachi went back to the early 2000s, when she started swimming as an aqua therapy for disabled kids, to improve motor skills. She was a natural swimmer and had improved a lot in a short period. Her coach then suggested she take up swimming more seriously. “I won many medals in swimming at the junior level, did well in the districts and national level, but never made it to the international level,” said Yadav.
“My coach said I had long hands and it would be helpful in sports like canoeing or kayaking,” added Prachi. In 2017, she first saw para-canoeing as a sport and developed interest in it. “I saw athletes practise balancing on their boats. It was quite adventurous to watch and I decided to take up the sport.
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“When I first met Mayank sir in 2018, he didn’t have many para-athletes, maybe three or four,” said Yadav. She had a tough time in her initial days as a para-canoe athlete. “There was only one boat for para-canoeing among the other able-bodied canoers.” The first year went by getting a hang of balance in the boat. “We used to get only 15-20 minutes because of the lack of boats.”
Since her time in the nationals in 2019, it has been a no-look-back journey for her. She won multiple medals in the national meets in 2019 and 2020 and qualified for the world championships, where she came 10th, which won her a quota for the Tokyo Paralympics.
What are the changes in the sport currently? “A lot has changed since then,” she said. She described how she had to make use of ‘jugaad’, as in a makeshift boat to continue with her training. “I used bamboo to make changes in a kayak boat because the specific boat required in my sport was not available. I first used a proper boat when I got into the international circuit.”
Now, a TOPS athlete, supported by OGQ, she said para-canoeing is a well-supported sport in the country. But she was a pioneer for India in this sport at the Paralympics. She says that she feels a sense of responsibility now to give back to the community and the government because of the money they’re spending on her. “I take it as a responsibility to win medals at the international level. The government is spending enough to support the game.”
After a huge success in the Hangzhou Asian Para Games with 111 medals, and 19 in the Tokyo Paralympics, Prachi said there have been significant changes in the society regarding para-sports. “Earlier, people used to think there is not much competition in para-sports and the medals come easy. Now the narrative has changed.” She thanked the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, for promoting para-sports with equal intensity as able-bodied sports. “His tweets after each medal in Hangzhou and Tokyo motivated a lot.”
Now, with the experience she gained in Tokyo and the strong backing of multiple medals on the international stage, the 29-year-old aims to get the coveted Paralympics medal at Paris 2024. She is reaching Paris in late August and will give her best to make the podium, as she pledges to the nation through RevSportz. “I didn’t have much experience in Tokyo, but now, I know the ins and outs of the game and hopefully will make India proud.”
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