Devendra Jhajharia wins India's first-ever gold in World Paralympic Championships

Paraathlete Devendra Jhajharia has created history by becoming the first differentlyabled Indian to win a gold at the IPC Athletics World Championships as he bagged the yellow metal in javelin throw in the sixth edition of the event in Lyon France Jhajharia also a world record holder in the event which he created while winning gold in the 2004 Athens Olympics hurled the javelin to 5704m in F46 category meant for onearmed athletes at the Rhone Stadium last night The 32yearold Rajasthan athlete whose world record stands at 6215m led the field of 11 from the very beginning as he opened with a throw of 5471m He came up with his best of 5704m in his sixth and last throw The Indian a class IV employee with the Railways got some stiff competition from Iranian Mirshekari Abdolrasoul who also bettered his personal mark of 5134m pegging the spear at 5262m for the silver Egyptian Ismail Mahmoud got the bronze with a throw of 5022m Devendra Jhajharia competes during the men39s javelin throw F46 on Sunday during the IPC Athletics World Championships at the Rhone Stadium in Venissieux near Lyon eastern France PicAFP With Jhajharia39s effort India opened their medal account in the Championships organised by International Paralympics Committee and now stands at 19th in the medal tally India is represented by a 10member contingent in the July 1928 Championships All 10 athletes have qualified with 39A39 standard The 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships featuring over 1000 athletes from nearly 100 countries is the biggest gathering of international differentlyabled athletes since the 2012 London Olympics IPC President Sir Phil Cravon and CEO Xavier Gonzalez congratulated Jhajharia on his achievement Paralympics Committee of India President Sultan Ahmed said Jhajharia will be felicitated when he returns home An elated Paralympic Committee of India PCI president Sultan Ahmed announced a cash award of Rs5 lakh for Jhajharia quotI think Devendra39s gold medal will boost the paralympic athletes in the country We have a huge wealth of talent in the country and we have to support them We are thankful to the sports ministry and the Sports Association of India SAI for all support they gave to the athletes for training purposequot Ahmed an MP from Trinamool Congress said Son of Ram Singh a farmer Jhajharia was passionate about sports from his school days ldquoSport is where an entire life can be compressed into a few hours where the emotions of a lifetime can be felt on an acre or two of ground where a person can suffer and die and rise again on six miles of trails through a parkrdquo said Jhajharia who hails from Rajasthan39s Churu district which is the gateway to Thar desert It was in 1997 that Jhajhariau00a0was spotted by his coach Ripudaman Singh Aulak a Dronacharya Awardee in javelin and he shifted to the nearby town of Kasab for better training facilities From there he never looked back and was soon training at National Institute of Sports NIS Patiala quotSport is a theatre where sinner can turn saint and a common man can become an uncommon hero where the past and the future mix with the presentquot said Jhajharia Jhajharia thanks Indian Railways who allowed him to practise throughout the year but is frustrated with the apathy of the corporate sector quotI asked for sponsorship 34 times but they weren39t responsive So I left pursuing them I think that the private sector has more money and resources to invest in sports unlike the state and central governments but unfortunately the former hardly reciprocates when we approach themquot he said Jhajharia feels that paraathletes don39t get their due in India quotI am the sole gold medallist in javelin But the status of this game has not improved yet To me both the Olympics and the Paralympics share a similar status But in case of normal Olympics medallist the pension is of Rs10000 while the paralympic winners get just Rs5000 Moreover there are 101 Olympic winner who are supposed to get pension from the government but around 50 of them don39t get it at allquot he said