Sharmila Dhankar's painful rainbow ends with put of gold

India’s Sharmila Dhankar celebrates after winning her gold medal in Glasgow on Monday. Pic/CWG

It seemed as though para shot putter Sharmila Dhankar bundled up all her problems over the years and put it into that one throw that saw India end a two decade-long medal drought in para athletics at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games on Monday night.

At 40, while most athletes are in the evening of their careers, Dhankar's grit saw her produce her season's best throw of 9.81m to clinch gold in the F57 category which is for athletes with lower limb impairments or limb deficiencies, or reduced muscle power. But Dhankar's story is as dramatic off the field as it is on it. Hailing from Haryana's Chhithroli, Dhankar's left leg was impaired by polio at the age of two.

Shilpa Shyla

Born in abject poverty, to a farmer father and a blind mother, Dhankar was married off in her teens. But things only got worse as her husband turned out to be a domestic abuser and would beat her up frequently. After subjecting her to years of physical abuse, Dhankar's husband threw her out of the house, and she returned to her parents with her two teenage daughters. She married again, and this time fate was finally kind to her, as her husband Ajit Singh, a businessman from Rewari, encouraged her to take on para athletics in 2020 under the guidance of coach Tek Chand.

Within a year, Dhankar won the National Championship and emerged as one of India's leading para throwers in the shot put and discus throw (F57) events.

She also bagged a gold medal at the Fazza International Para Athletics Championship in Dubai this year. At the 2022 Birmingham Games, Dhankar finished fourth. Dhankar dedicated the medal to her mother. "I dedicate this medal to my mother. She is blind, and despite all the criticism I faced from everywhere, she fought the world and supported me throughout my childhood. I have fulfilled my mother's dream," Dhankar told reporters after her win.

"I'm extremely happy. The feeling hasn't yet sunk in, maybe it will take another two-three days. My next target is a gold at the Asian Games," she added.

Compatriot Shilpa Shyla, with a personal best effort of 7.26m, was awarded the bronze medal after India protested when Nigeria's Eucharia Iyiazi, who was initially handed the bronze, had her only valid mark adjudged a foul.

34 yrs
The age at which Sharmila Dhankar became a para athlete

Six
No. of throws by Sharmila Dhankar that crossed the nine-metre mark in six attempts; no other competitor touched this mark