Losing a leg was no hindrance for 200m champion Rajesh

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New Delhi. When the 200m final of the T64 category began at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Monday, it was being telecast live on a big screen at Annai Velankanni College in Tambaram, Tamil Nadu, thousands of kilometers away from here as one of the college’s blade runners, Rajesh was participating in the first Khelo India Para Games.

The college administration wanted every child to see Rajesh perform because his story is one of extreme courage.

Rajesh lit up the JLN Stadium track with his performance and won the gold medal in 200 meters. After this, on Tuesday, Rajesh also took part in long jump but he finished disappointingly in fifth place. But there is no room for words like disappointment or frustration in the personal life of Rajesh, who lost his leg at the age of just 6 months.

The personal life of Rajesh, who practices under the supervision of Nitin Choudhary at the Sai Center in Gandhinagar (Gujarat), is full of such incidents, which would make anyone sigh, but he never considered himself an object of pity. Rajesh wants to register his name in history.

Rajesh said, “I want to earn a name like India’s gold medal-winning Paralympian Mariyappan Thangavelu. I want to be like German para long jump athlete Markus Rehm, who set a world record in the T64 long jump category. Disability has never been a hindrance in my path. I never let it affect me and always thought like a normal person. “I have never made myself an object of pity.”

Asked if he was disabled by birth, Rajesh said, “No, I am not disabled by birth. I was born a normal child but due to infection in my legs I had to undergo treatment. While giving the injection, the needle broke in my leg and the poison spread due to this. Then, following my parents’ advice, doctors amputated my leg to save my life,” said Rajesh, recalling his ordeal.

Rajesh told that at the age of 10 months, he got his first artificial leg, with the help of which he started living his life further, but when he was in seventh class, his parents left him.

According to Rajesh, “After getting the artificial leg, life seemed normal but then my parents separated with mutual consent. We did not get support from anyone, my twin brother and I were forced to live with our grandparents. My grandfather raised us by driving autos.”

On how he got into running despite having a prosthetic leg, 24-year-old Rajesh said, “I have been doing blade running for the last five or six years. I started my journey in 2018 but in the year 2016, I was inspired by watching Mariyappan Thangavelu win gold medal in T42 category high jump on television at Rio Paralympics and since then I had decided that I too wanted to become an Olympian. Am.

Rajesh further said, “One day a friend of mine called and said that your dream of playing for the country can be fulfilled. Meet Vijay, the first wheelchair player of Tamil Nadu. When I met him at Nehru Stadium, he advised me to take up blade running. I started practicing in 2018 and played Nationals twice. I won the bronze medal in the 21st Para Nationals held in Pune in March 2023. After this, the Tamil Nadu government gave me a new blade, which costs Rs 7.50 lakh.

Rajesh told that his aim is to participate in Paralympics and Para Asian Games. “I want to win medals for the country in the Paralympics and Para Asian Games. Right now I am preparing for the Para Nationals to be held in Goa from 9 to 15 January. It is less cold there so my performance will be better. After this I want to prepare for the Grand Prix to be held in Dubai in February 2024.

–IANS

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