Devendra Jhajharia from Rajasthan Wins 2 Golds at Rio Paralympics 2016
Sep 15, 2016
Rajasthan’s Javelin Thrower Devendra Jhajharia kept his promise of a gold medal. The Arjun Award winner and the first Paralympian to the get the Padma Shri, Rajasthan born Devendra Jhajharia has now become the first Indian Paralympian to win two Paralympic gold medals. This is a matter of immense proud for all of Rajasthan!
His promise
He had promised his wife Manju of bringing a gold medal. And his golden promise has been kept well as he got 2 Paralympic Golds. When his Manju received a call from Rio de Janeiro, tears of happiness rolled down her cheeks.
The incident that left disabled
The 36-year-old javelin thrower, a native of Rajgarh in Churu district of Rajasthan, lost his left arm below the elbow when he was just 8 years old. He got electrocuted as an eight year old kid while he was climbing a tree and came in contact with a high-tension wire.
His achievements
In 2002, Devendra won his first international medal at the Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled.
In 2004, he won the Athens Paralympic gold in F46 men’s javelin throw with a new world record of 62.15m. F46 is a category in Paralympics where the throwing arm is almost normal but the other arm has some kind of impairment.
In 2004, he won the Arjuna Award.
In 2012, he became the first Paralympian to get the Padma Shri.
In 2013, he won the gold in IPC World Championships.
In 2014, he was named the FICCI Para-Sportsperson of the year.
This year in 2016, he won the IPC Athletics Asia-Oceania Championship in Dubai.
Recently in 2016, he improved his own world record of 62.15m, which he had set in Athens in 2004, while gaining his first gold at Rio Paralympics in men’s F46 category with a throw of 63.97m.
At Rio Paralympics 2016, he has also become the first Indian Paralympian to win two consecutive gold medals in javelin throw at the tournament; and that also while bettering his own record.
Devendra on retirement
When asked about retirement, Devendra said, “I am not going to retire now. I can still do much better”. He plans to compete in the World Championships next year. Also you can expect to see him at Tokyo Paralympics too.
