Parathlete Sportswoman of the year nominees

Explore the performance of our nominees Deepa Malik, Manasi Joshi and Ekta Bhyan

Deepa, 47, bagged two bronze medals -- F51/52/53s discus throw and the F 53/54 javelin throw events at the recent Asian Para Games.

DEEPA MALIK

Age: 48

Deepa Malik doesn't believe in setting boundaries. A spinal tumour left her paralysed from waist down in 1999, but it only gave her a renewed vigour to live life to the fullest.

She swam across the Yamuna river, drove 1700 km in sub-zero temperatures at Raid De Himalaya, became an entrepreneur, a motivational speaker and mastered many a sport. She became the first Indian woman to win a Paralympics medal when she clinched a silver in the shot put at Rio. The 48-year-old Arjuna and Padma Shri awardee continues to impress two years after that feat.

In 2018, Deepa won the gold medal in the F53/54 javelin event at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Dubai this year to be ranked No. 1 in the world. At the Asian Games, she followed it up with bronze medals in discus and javelin to cap off yet another successful year.

 

Para shuttler Manasi Joshi with her Asiad bronze medal.

 

MANASI JOSHI

Age: 29

Manasi Joshi won a gold medal in singles at the Australian Para Badminton International despite the aircraft carrier misplacing her prosthetics. She won despite playing most of her matches on her old prosthetics that she used primarily for just walking.

She had clinched a bronze medal at the Asian Para Games held in Indonesia in October. She also won a bronze medal at Thailand Para-Badminton International earlier this year and registered a career-high rank of No. 3 in the world. She is currently ranked No. 4 in the world.

 

Ekta Bhyan produced her best throw of 16.02m in her fourth attempt to win the gold in the women’s club throw event. (File Photo)

 

EKTA BHYAN

Age: 33

Supported by GoSports Foundation through the Para Champions Programme, the 33-year-old from Haryana was on a medal-winning spree in 2018.

She kick-started her 2018 campaign with a gold medal in club throw at the National Para Athletic Championship in March.

At the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Tunisia, she bagged a club throw gold and discus throw bronze medal. The world-class athlete continued her domination in club throw by winning the gold in Indian Open Para Athletics Championship.

She added a second gold in the discus event. At the Asian Para Games, Ekta clinched a gold medal in club throw and narrowly missed a bronze in the discus.