‘Paralympic Sports and Empowerment’ was the topic of discussion in Session 8 on Day 2 of the RevSportz Trailblazer Conclave 2.0. Athletes Sumit Antil and Yogesh Kathuniya, Deepthi Bopaiah of Go Sports Foundation, Sumeli Chatterjee of Coca Cola and golf promoter Gautam Devlekar were the speakers. Trisha Ghosal and Soumyajit Das Chowdhury were the moderators.
Antil is a world record holder in javelin throw. He is a star achiever. He felt that awareness of para-sports has increased. “When I compete, people expect me to win medals and set records,” he said. “It shows that interest in our sports is on the rise. It works both ways. Expectations put additional pressure on you. It can also work as a motivation. I take it as an encouragement. It pushes me to better my best.”
Kathuniya is also a javelin thrower. He has started a training centre which doesn’t charge money. “In para-sports, people quit early when they realise that they are not going to make a mark,” he said. “That’s why I started this academy. People know about para-athletes these days. It increases pressure on us. I work harder to meet the expectations.”
GoSports Foundation has played a leading role in promoting para-sports. “When we went to the Rio Paralympics in 2016, the Indian contingent had 19 members,” said Bopaiah.
“But we won medals and that was the turning point for para-sports in India. We found talented athletes. Support for para-sports increased. It was an obvious choice for us. Paralympics is priority because it’s the pinnacle of human domination.”
Coca Cola has played an important part in popularising para-sports. “Our Palat De campaign on para-sports was not a sideshow,” said Chatterjee.
“It was a mainstream campaign. Sports unites India and the achievements of our para-athletes is a story of India. We will continue to be there. More than success, we want to celebrate the journey towards success.”
Devlekar had been promoting women’s golf in India and South-east Asia for a few years. A few years ago, he started thinking about a golf tour for the visually challenged. That became a reality and now, the Singapore-based Devlekar supports women’s golf and organises events for the visually challenged at the same time. Support for sportspersons with disabilities has started coming in. The panellists were optimistic that this will increase in the coming years.