NEW DELHI: He has won many accolades at the national and international level, received the Arjuna Award and is living proof that disability need not prevent an individual from chasing sporting excellence.
Meet Amit Kumar Saroha, a former national-level hockey player who overcame the odds to etch his name in the discus throw and club throw and this week will aim to make a mark at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Saroha, now 31, was involved in a car accident in 2007 at the age of 22 that left him in a wheelchair with doctors telling him that his chances of walking again were next to nil. Initially crushed, Saroha found inspiration from a meeting with American wheelchair rugby player Jonathan Sigworth, which opened up the Haryana native to para sports.
Since that meeting, Siroha has played wheelchair rugby and scaled great heights in disciplines like the discuss and club throw. At the 2010 Asian Para Games, he won a silver medal in the discus throw; in 2012, he broke the Asian record while winning gold at the Olympic qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur; at the London Paralymic Games he finished eighth out of 12 athletes in the discus throw.
Saroha enters the
Rio Paralympics
on a confident note, having earlier this year won gold at the
French Open Athletics Championships
with an Asian record of 26.58m. He will contest the F51 category in Rio.