Murlikant Petkar was the first-ever Indian to have won a gold medal in the Paralympics.
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Today, the country celebrates a lot of athletes who came back as medal winners from the Tokyo Olympics, it is time for para athletes to shine. However, one must look back to the time when India won its first-ever gold in the Paralympics. Murlikant Petkar was the first-ever Indian to have won a gold medal in the Paralympics. Petkar suffered debilitating injuries in an aerial attack during the 1965 war with Pakistan and was rendered paraplegic. He bagged the first-ever medal at the 1972 Games at Heidelberg, Germany. It was before the time of 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medalist Abhinav Bindra or for that matter, Devendra Jhajharia’s javelin throw gold at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens.
Petkar won gold in 50m freestyle 3 swimming in the then world record time of 37.33 seconds. He had earlier created a world record of 38.19 secs.
A soldier of the craftsman rank in the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME), Petkar was visiting Jammu and Kashmir when his army camp came under aerial attack from Pakistani troops.
“I was out for tea in the afternoon when a whistle was blown to indicate an aerial attack. I tried to rush back to my room but the firing had already started,” Petkar told the IPC.
During his rehabilitation, a physiotherapist at INHS Asvini, the Navy hospital in Mumbai suggested Petkar take up sports. Petkar tried table tennis, athletics, and swimming and represented the country in all three.
He recalls his events in the 1972 Games where he participated in Men’s Slalom 3, Men’s Shot Put 3, Men’s Javelin 3, Men’s Precision Javelin Open besides 50m freestyle swimming. Petkar reached the finals of all his events, winning gold in 50m freestyle swimming.
“I was always confident of my abilities and gave my best in the first race itself and set a world record. The final was quite tough. Normally I am not bothered about the lane I swim (in) and set the world record from the first lane. But for the final, I wanted (in) the middle lanes (3rd or 4th) and I got the third. I thought it was a good omen and gave it my best shot,” he said.
But things were not easy for Petkar as he had to struggle for funding and could not participate in any more Paralympic Games though he was in top form and could have won more medals.
In order to participate at the international stage, Petkar had to take the help of many people. One of those who helped him realize his dream was former India cricket captain Vijay Merchant. “Vijay Merchant was heading an NGO that supported disabled persons and his organization paid for my tickets,” he told the IPC.
“There was not much support for disabled people those days but we continued to work hard and participated in events as we wanted to prove that we were capable of representing the country and winning medals,” says Petkar, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2018.
In an almost 20 years long career, Petkar won at Stoke Mandeville International Paraplegic Meets held in England where he bettered his own record and won the General Championship Cup for five consecutive years (1969-73). At the 3rd Commonwealth Paraplegic Games held at Edinburgh, Scotland, he bagged gold in 50m freestyle swimming, silver in javelin throw and bronze in shot put. At the International FESPIC Games in Hong Kong in 1982 where he created another world record in 50m swimming.
Now 72, Petkar lives in Pune, spending a quiet life of a retired senior citizen.
As another edition of the Paralympic Games approaches, Petkar’s mind will be filled with memories of the struggles he faced to raise funds for representing the country, his exploits at the 1972 Games, and the welcome he received on arrival in New Delhi with the gold medal — just like the Tokyo Olympic Games medallists are receiving while Petkar lives in anonymity.
(With inputs from IANS)
