At just 18 years of age, Praveen Kumar’s indomitable spirit won him a silver medal in men’s high jump T64 event in his debut Paralympics! “Maine teen saal train kiya hai silver medal laane ke liye. I’m proud and happy. Mere paas words nahi hai batane ke liye ki mujhe kaisa feel ho raha hai to be the youngest Indian to bring a medal in Tokyo Paralympics,” he says.

Kumar reveals that he was almost about to give up on sports in 2019, however it was his coach who convinced him otherwise. “My biggest support in my journey as a para-athlete has been of coach Satyapal Singh. Jab meri classification hui thi 2019 mein World Para Athletics Junior Championship mein, uss time meri category change ho gayi thi, T42 se T44, the latter being the category of more disabled para-athletes. Uss time mujhe aisa laga tha ki ab mujhse sports nahi ho ga, lekin mere coach ne mujhe bola ki ek saal tu time de ke dekh, apne liye nahi toh apne family aur apne coach ke liye. Toh maine uss din se apne aap ko sir ke havale kar diya. And today because of that, I could win a medal for India.”

Kumar shares what propelled him to embark on the journey of a para athlete. He says, “Jab 2016 mein Paralympics hue the tab mujhe pata chala tha ki diabled logo ke liye bhi games hote hai. Doosre para-athletes ke medal dekh ke mujhe laga ki yaar main bhi toh disable hun, mujhe bhi toh thoda aage badhna chahiye na.”

Learning from his own journey, Kumar has some advise for aspiring and fellow para athletes,” To aspiring para-athletes I just want to say that do not accept defeat and give up under any circumstance. Aage badhte jaao aur sab bhagwan pe chod do.”

Author tweets @FizzyBuddha

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