The hunger for success and desire to keep pushing the performance level saw India’s Yogesh Kathuniya engaged in an gripping battle with Brazil’s Claudiney Batista in the men’s F56 category discus throw at the Paralympics on Monday. Yet, when Yogesh, who hails from Bahadurgarh in Haryana was seated with his legs belted inside the arena at the Stade de France, the Tokyo Paralympics silver medallist was unable to push as hard as he wanted against Batista.
In the end, Kathuniya, who completed a prestigious Commerce degree at the well-known Kirori Mal College of Delhi University, was almost going through the motions with the rhythm was missing. For those watching it live on television, it was clear that he was being conservative in his approach and not going flat out. Watching each of these Para athletes is education. While the common man might complain of either a headache or a catch in the back, there are no such excuses from elite athletes like Kathuniya.
He was afflicted with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, an auto-immune condition that affected his nervous system, at the age of nine. Not many would know that it is reversible in some cases. Kathuniya spent two years in a wheelchair and the process of getting back to a certain level of activity was thanks to his passionate family support. With his father coming from an Army background and mother learning physiotherapy and rehab to work on her son’s legs, no effort was spared. The story is not complete, as the famous Kirori Mal College, of which Amitabh Bachchan is also an alumnus, ensured they would motivate Kathuniya to fight and take to sports. Not all institutions are inert to persons with disability, though admissions happen only after due checks and balances at the Delhi University.
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Yogesh Kathuniya on his silver medal winning performance. He thinks he could have done better.@ThumsUpOfficial @YogeshKathuniya @BoriaMajumdar @PCI_IN_Official #Paralympics2024 pic.twitter.com/VOgK6QOqV9
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) September 2, 2024
On a sunny Monday morning in Paris, Kathuniya registered 42.22 metres, the best in his six attempts, for a silver medal. But then, he has thrown even 48 metres in the past. To say that it was pressure which did not allow him to increase the distance would be improper. The atmosphere inside the arena was wonderful and the cheers for Claudiney were massive.
A thrower like Kathuniya also had to be watchful that there was no foul. Winning back-to-back silver medals at the Paralympics in Tokyo and Paris is a proud achievement. But if you heard him speak to RevSportz, he was not very happy, and spoke of wanting to get better, for which he may need overseas exposure and training. To be fair, he did thank the support system in India as the Sports Authority of India (SAI) takes good care of its elite athletes.
What was heartening to hear from the 27-year-old was that he would celebrate this second silver medal but not rest on his laurels. After all, gone are the days when India’s Para athletes were happy with a medal of any colour. Kathuniya has shown potential from the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships, where he won a bronze. He improved the colour of the metal to silver at the next World Para meet.
While seated on a bench and using the upper-body strength and rotation, Kathuniya reminded us all how he has reached this stage. More in store? Definitely.
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