Amit Kumar Saroha looks to make a statement at Paralympics after bout with COVID

He is a two-time World Championship silver medallist in the F51 club and one of the strong medal hopeful for the country.

Amit Kumar Saroha in a file photo. (Image: Twitter/ Bajrang Punia)
By Nilavro Ghosh | Aug 21, 2021 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Amit Kumar Saroha is undoubtedly one of the most experienced athletes in the Indian Paralympics contingent heading to Tokyo for the upcoming Paralympic Games this year. This would be his third successive participation in the competition. He is a two-time World Championship silver medallist in the F51 club. He is one of the people on whom fans will pin their hopes to bag a medal for the country. However, things have not been easy for the para-athlete leading up to the Games. His preparations were affected due to the pandemic. He had a serious bout with COVID-19 earlier. Saroha said that the disease created even more problems for him since he was disabled. Notably, the athlete had suffered quadriplegia after a car accident in 2007.

“Covid has significantly affected even an ordinary person and when there was already a severe disability like mine, it created even more problems,” Saroha said. “Obviously, there were many problems physically as every time I’d start training (after recovering from COVID-19), some complication would occur. Such was the situation around the country that it also mentally disturbed many. But I feel that as an athlete, we are strong to fight any circumstances. I have overcome difficult situations in the past. I knew I will get through this hurdle too, just like I always have,” he added.

MASTER AND APPRENTICE

He is joined at the Paralympics by his apprentice, Dharambir, also qualified for the men’s club throw event. The relationship between the two will go out of the window when they compete against each other at the biggest stage and it would make for a rather interesting scenario. Another athlete who considers Saroha to be her mentor, Ekta Bhayan, will also take part in the Paralympics in the women’s F51 club throw event.

Saroha said that being a senior athlete, it was his responsibility to motivate younger talent in different sports. “The problem is that in Indian sports, people don’t think about anyone else apart from themselves. Being a senior athlete, it is our responsibility that we push other athletes in different sports too so that the future generation is encouraged and gets benefited from our experience,” said the Arjuna awardee.

This will not be the first time that Saroha and his student Dharambir will take part in the same event. At the Asian Para Games in Jakarta, the duo had finished on the podium in their event. Saroha bagging the gold medal and Dharambir winning the silver. The veteran athlete looks back at that moment as being one of the proudest of his life. “It was a proud moment for me that we both were on the podium,” he said.

TOUGH COMPETITION

Saroha will face tough competition at the Paralympic Games. The likes of Zeljko Dimitrijevic of Serbia and Marian Kureja of Slovakia who had beaten Amit by 0.19m for bronze in Rio will be there in Tokyo. “Every single athlete will be well prepared and it is not like I’m considering someone a big competitor. I’ll be competing against myself and will try to give my best. I am not targeting or focusing on anyone else,” Saroha said.