Got paralyzed in childhood, Ekta Bhyan alone defeats UAE and gives India a gold

India once again hit the headlines for all the proud reasons in sports. Thanks to Ekta Bhyan. She did the entire country proud by clinching a gold in club throw in the Asian Para Games. Winning a gold medal didn’t come that easy but her spellbound performance

She won India’s fourth gold medal at the Asian Para Games in the women’s club throw event. She brought the best out of herself with a throw- 16.02m in her fourth attempt clinching the F32/51 event (at the GBK stadium) ahead of UAE’s Alkaabi Thekra, who threw 15.75m. The F32/51 class specifies athletes with significant impairment in hand function.

Competing in the club throw F32/51 event, Ekta did not have the best of starts and it was only after three throws she beat UAE opponent Thekra to clinch gold.
Ekta is ranked number one in club throw in Asia.

Credits: Hindustan Times Screengrab

Ekta Bhyan met with a road accident in 2003 where she picked up a serious injury in her spinal cord which led to paralysis of her lower part of the body. Ekta started playing sport in 2014 so that she can be physically fit. However, her life started to change when she stumbled upon Arjuna Awardee Amit Saroha, another GoSports Para Athlete who motivated and trained her through and through in ‘club throw’ and ‘discus throw’.

Following two operations and several months in rehabilitation turned Ekta stronger than ever before. With tenacity, intensity, grit and determination, she claimed a Silver medal at the IPC Para Athletics Grand Prix in Berlin in 2016.

Ekta’s father is known to be a retired district horticulture officer while her mother is a homemaker. She did her post-graduation in English and currently works for the Haryana Government.

Ekta was recruited to represent India at the 2017 IPC Para Athletics World Championships, by the virtue of his performance (15.3m in Club throw | Rank – 7) (3.46m in Discus throw | Rank – 11) at the Selection Trials held in JLN Stadium in New Delhi this May. Ekta was also selected as a part of the GoSports Foundation’s Para Champions Programme for the year 2017-18 quite recently in June.

EARLIER ACHIEVEMENTS:

2016 turned out to be decent year for Ekta Bhyan where she won Silver medal in women’s club throw and finished fourth in women’s discus throw, IPC Para Athletics Grand Prix, BerlinGold medal in women’s club throw and bronze in women’s discus throw at the 2016, Senior National Para Athletics Championships, Panchkula.

Hailing from Chennai, Chaithanya G is the Managing Director of TheYouth. He has dedicated his whole life to reading and writing.