 "Who is Yogesh Kathuniya, India's two-time Paralympics silver medallist")
Yogesh Kathuniya clinched his second consecutive Paralympics silver medal in men’s discus throw F-56 event with a season’s best of 42.22m at the Paris Games on Monday.
The 27-year-old hurled the discus to the podium-clinching distance in his very first attempt to clinch his second silver at a Paralympics. He had won his first at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
The F-56 classification covers limb deficiency, leg length difference, impaired muscle power and impaired range of movement.
Who is Yogesh Kathuniya?
At the age of 9, Kathuniya developed the Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare autoimmune condition which causes numbness, tingling and muscle weakness that can progress to paralysis.
He was bound to the wheelchair during his childhood but overcame the odds with the help of his mother Meena Devi, who learnt physiotherapy to help him regain muscle strength to walk again. After his mother’s hard work on her son, Yogesh regained muscle strength to walk again at the age of 12.
In 2016, he took up para sports after Sachin Yadav, General Secretary of the students’ union at Kirori Mal College, motivated him to take up sports by regularly showing him videos of para-athletes.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIn 2018, he set a world record by throwing the disc to 45.18m at the 2018 World Para Athletics European Championships in Berlin.
At the Tokyo Paralympics, Kathuniya threw the disc to 44.38m and won a silver medal for India. He was honoured with the Arjuna Award by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, in November 2021 for his achievements.
Besides two Paralympic silver medals, he has three world championship medals, including two silver and a bronze.
His consistency at major tournaments, such as the Paralympics 2020, the World Championship 2023 and the Asian Para Games 2022 has made a lasting impression on the history of Para Athletics.
Kathuniya is a commerce graduate from Delhi’s prestigious Kirori Mal College. Before that he studied at Indian Army Public School in Chandigarh, where his father, Gyanchand Kathuniya, served in the army at Chandimandir Cantonment.
Yogesh Kathuniya’s achievements:
Tokyo Paralympics (2020) – Silver Medal
Paris Paralympics (2024) - SIlver Medal
Asian Para Games (2022) – Silver Medal
World Para Athletics Championship (2023) – Silver Medal
World Para Athletics Championship (2019)– Bronze Medal
Handisport Open (2019) – Gold Medal
Indian Open (2023, 2022, 2019) - Gold Medal
How the government helped produce the medal
Financial Assistance for Sports Equipment
Financial Assistance for Training & Competition
Financial Assistance for Expert Services
Out of Pocket Allowance under TOPS
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