For Paralympic high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu, the nerves of competition and the larger challenges of pursuing the sport with a disability sometimes overwhelmed him during the early stages of his career. Furthermore, a passport issue denied him the chance to compete in the London Paralympic Games, complicating an already difficult journey.
A little over a decade later, Mariyappan — the son of a single mother who worked odd jobs as a bricklayer and vegetable vendor — has earned three Paralympic medals — gold at the Rio Games, silver in Tokyo, and bronze in Paris.
“In Paris, my training was perfect. Even three days before my main event, I was clearing heights of 1.95m (the gold medal-winning jump in Paris was 1.94m),” Mariyappan told Sportstar.
“However, just days before my event, I came down with a fever. It rained for a few days in Paris. The cold air and stiffness didn’t allow me to perform a proper free jump,” he added, expressing regret at missing out on gold yet again.
There was a time when Mariyappan’s fights on the field were intertwined with his battles off it — like seeking sustenance as an athlete, financial stability, and eventually gaining recognition. Now, he has the luxury of focusing solely on pursuing excellence, a privilege that has claimed plenty of blood, sweat, and tears in return.
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Coming full circle
Mariyappan’s blooming career coincided with the twilight of another para-athlete, veteran javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia. The three-time medallist made headlines when he won gold at the 2004 Athens Paralympics with a world-record throw of 62.15m (a massive improvement from the previous mark of 59.77m).
When Jhajharia, now retired and at the helm of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), overcame the physical and mental toll of an arm amputation and found his calling in sports, naysayers quickly tried to gate-keep the space for able-bodied athletes.
“When I picked up the javelin and went to the ground to train, people would ask me, ‘ Kya kaam hai tera yahan? (What are you here for?)’” Jhajharia recalls.
“Now, they ask, ‘ Aapko Sumit Antil banna hai? Navdeep banna hai? Devendra Jhajharia banna hai? [Do you want to be Sumit Antil? Navdeep? Devendra Jhajharia?’] Life has come full circle,” he beams.
Para sports in India currently finds itself in an interesting phase. Team India returned from Paris with an impressive 29-medal haul, its best-ever performance in a single edition, surpassing the previous record at the 2021 Tokyo Games by 10 medals. For those who have followed and supported the Paralympic movement in India, including Jhajharia himself, this was a moment of validation.
“Before heading to Paris, in the lead-up to our departure, I said we would win at least 25 medals. One of the reporters there asked — “Isn’t this a bit overconfident?”
He replied. “This isn’t overconfidence; it’s experience.”
His predecessor, Deepa Malik — a Paralympic silver medallist from Rio who is now the South Asia representative to the Asian Olympic Council — echoes this sentiment and doubly underlines the systemic changes over the past decade that have boosted India’s performance from just one medal in 2012 to 29 this year.
“The growth of para sports in India is directly linked to policy changes toward this sector and a shift from viewing the Paralympic Committee of India as an NGO to a full-fledged federation,” she tells Sportstar.
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“Earlier, for tournaments, there used to be this casual attitude of ‘ kisi ko bhi bhej do’ (just send anyone randomly). Now, there’s much more accountability for every single decision and action. The system has become more athlete-oriented, and the results are there for all to see,” she adds.
Class apart: (From left) Devendra Jhajharia, Mariyappan Thangavelu, Deepa Malik, Sachin Tendulkar and Varun Singh Bhati during a felicitation programme. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Photo Library
“Government facilities have played a huge role in pushing para sports. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) and National Centres of Excellence (NCE) have really upped the standards of facilities available for para-athletes, enabling them to train at these venues almost all year round. The absorption of para-athletes in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) has also made a huge difference,” Jhajharia points out.
“Another significant development is that now Central Government agencies like the Income Tax Department, the Revenue Department, and others have job quotas specifically set aside for para-athletes. In this system, jobs are secured, training facilities are provided, and a sports-conducive environment is created, leaving athletes with nothing to worry about except succeeding. Alone, any one of these elements would have posed challenges for people with disabilities. Therefore, these need to work in tandem.
“Increased funding has been the smallest part of the change. The more important shift, a direct consequence of that funding, has been in the training structures and approach. The map of centres for para-athletes across the country has many more pins now,” he adds.
Course correction
Jhajharia remembers funding his own Paralympic dreams for the Athens Games, a memory that takes him back to what he describes as the ‘dark ages’ of the sport. Unlike today, when athletes returning from international events are greeted with elaborate processions and welcome ceremonies, only Jhajharia’s father was waiting for him at the airport when he returned with gold from the Athens Summer Games. The Khel Ratna awardee has not forgotten, and hopes never to forget, the sting of that invisibility.
“My aim has always been to ensure that the players under me get whatever I didn’t. When I started out, I had spikes worth just 300-400 rupees and nothing else. I couldn’t afford anything better, yet I broke the world record with those spiked shoes,” he says, reflecting on a lonelier time in India’s Paralympic history.
Back then, athletes were at the mercy of fate. If they managed to secure funding — often barely enough — their dreams survived, albeit on life support. Understandably, Jhajharia and Deepa, who came before him, praise the financial autonomy athletes now enjoy with the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and increased attention from the Central Government in terms of policy and funding.
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“We had 50 athletes under TOPS for Paris, and it not only put money in the hands of the player, but also ensured that an all-round support system could be forged to maximise performance. It gives players a lot of autonomy and puts decision-making back in their hands. They could choose their coaches, decide whether to train in India or abroad, and fine-tune their preparation as they saw fit,” Jhajharia explains.
Of the 30 athletes who won 29 medals in Paris, only three — shooter Mona Agarwal, high jumper Sharad Kumar, and shot putter Hokato Hotozhe Sema — were not part of the TOPS programme.
Deepa also reveals that the Government’s funding for the Paris campaign exceeded Rs 70 crore, a significant jump from the Rs 8-10 crore that the PCI used to receive in the past.
Strengthening the SAI centres to include para sports disciplines and improving the NCEs paid rich dividends for the PCI in Paris. The inaugural Khelo India Para Games, held in New Delhi in 2023, also came at an opportune time for the Federation. Sixteen athletes from that event went on to compete in the Paris Games.
Hand-in-hand
The onus of supporting para-athletes is no longer just a Central Government issue. One of the mandates for the PCI has been to ensure greater participation from state federations, which has, in turn, helped the national body streamline scouting better than ever before.
While state-level administrations play a key role in widening the talent pool, their primary contribution so far has been injecting booster funds into an athlete’s training cycle. The Tamil Nadu government’s support for Mariyappan is a case in point.
In 2016, when Mariyappan returned as the Paralympic champion in the men’s high jump T42 category, the then-Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa announced a cash reward of Rs 2 crore, putting him on par with able-bodied gold medallists from the state.
Eight years later, the political party in power has changed, but the support for the high jumper remains steadfast.
“Before the Paralympics, the TN government sanctioned an amount of Rs 7 lakh towards my preparation and training. For a long time, it was very difficult to get the amount assured to us for winning medals at the national and international level. But the government ensured para-athletes received their money before the next order of business was taken up,” Mariyappan says.
Another key stakeholder in this ecosystem has been non-profits like Olympic Gold Quest and the GoSports Foundation, who have chipped in with funding assistance, and more importantly, accentuated athlete performances by assembling competent and international-standard support staff for the Indians.
Nandan Kamath, co-founder and Managing Trustee of the GoSports Foundation, traces his organisation’s involvement in para sports back to the 2010 Commonwealth Games when they worked with the likes of swimmer Sharad Gaikwad. Supporting para-athletes was a natural progression for the foundation, which prioritises nation-building through sports. This ambition was further aided by government legislation in 2013.
“The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mandate came through in the Companies Act, which explicitly mentioned Olympic and Paralympic athletes and their training. The use of the word ‘Paralympic’ was key here,” Kamath, who is also a sports law expert, explains.
A star is born: Sheetal Devi being greeted with an enormous garland during a felicitation programme in Chennai. | Photo Credit: PTI
“Around 2014-15, we began discussions with IndusInd Bank, which actually wanted to build a programme exclusively for Paralympic athletes. That helped us set up our Para Champions Programme, through which we supported more than 30 athletes, some of whom went to the Rio Paralympics. Three of them won medals — Devendra Jhajharia, Deepa Malik, and Varun Singh Bhati. The funding we managed helped them train and prepare seamlessly,” he recalls.
Just like in 2016, the heartbreak of the Summer Olympics campaign was eased by the Paralympics triumphs. In Rio, only wrestler Sakshi Malik and shuttler P. V. Sindhu managed to reach the podium, while the Paralympics saw double that number. This trend would continue over the next two editions.
“At that point, Sachin Tendulkar reached out to us. We organised a celebration for the medallists and raised funds for not just them but also every single Indian medallist up to that point,” Kamath says.
Every medallist, past and present, was given a cheque of Rs 15 lakh. The contributory pool included Tendulkar himself, along with industrialists like Sanjay Ghodawat and Abhay Gadgil, sports team owners like Nimmagadda Prasad (co-owner of Kerala Blasters), and others.
Kamath suggests in jest that this kind of spotlight helped someone like Murlikant Petkar — India’s first Paralympic gold medallist — finally receive his Padma Shri in 2018, 46 years after his triumph at the 1972 Games in Germany.
Avenues of change
Jhajharia had won his second gold medal in Rio but was not eligible for a Khel Ratna as per the rules at the time. However, the success of Indian athletes forced the system to take notice and make changes. Awards, felicitations, policy shifts, and the TOPS programme all came together to create a comprehensive care package for Paralympics in India.
“In many ways, it changed the set of opportunities that Paralympians or people with disabilities could participate in mainstream Indian life. And we saw many more people aspiring to become athletes. By the time Tokyo came along, the contingent was already much larger, and the number of medals increased to 19,” Kamath points out.
Kamath recalls a directive from Rahul Dravid, a board member of the organisation, regarding the direction their efforts in sports needed to take.
“Rahul said there’s no point in just following the herd. He suggested that we should try to bring marginalised sports and athletes into the mainstream. His idea was to focus on sports that haven’t been supported, create one successful example, and look at areas like women’s sports, or even extend that to disability sports.
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“By doing so, you create examples that have a signalling or demonstration effect. You can change sport from the grassroots level, but you can also create a person who becomes a catalyst for change. One person wins, and maybe 20 others think, ‘If he/she can win, I can play too.’ That kind of cascading change is what we’re aiming for. A medal, the national anthem playing — those are wonderful moments, and they close the loop on what we’re trying to achieve,” he explains.
He further added, “The average Indian understands and recognises sports excellence. Marginalised communities often struggle for parity because they don’t speak a universal language. They’re seeking empathy before they’re seeking mainstream inclusion. But with sport, that conversation is not even required because the salience of sports excellence is built into the Indian psyche. People want winners. So, you’re not looking for social acceptance — you’re just there as an athlete, striving and succeeding, without hyphenation or question marks. Many of these athletes are no longer just seen as ‘disabled’ individuals, but as athletes competing in disability sports because their excellence is the binding factor.”
This change in perspective led to more interest from the corporate world. Hyundai Motors India Foundation, the CSR arm of the car manufacturer, approached GoSports to develop a programme aimed at supporting those aspiring to be Paralympians. Hyundai has also partnered with other NGOs, such as the Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled, to support blind cricket and provide assistive devices for people with disabilities.
Sundar Singh Gurjar poses for a photo with fans after winning bronze in javelin throw F46 at the Paris Paralympic Games 2024. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
“CSR is not just meant for medal quests. It’s meant for societal change, right? The corporate world is learning to strike a balance. Hyundai, for example, never asked how many athletes we could turn into medallists. Their focus was on improving infrastructure for the disabled. They even announced a swivel seat feature in their cars to make the vehicles more accessible.
“More of these alignments are happening, and if sport can drive that sort of change — pardon the pun — in Indian society, that’s incredible,” he adds.
The PCI also saw additional support from organisations like Vedanta and the SBI Foundation. The latter, Deepa says, offered scholarships not just for elite athletes but also for B-level athletes, helping develop the second tier of talent.
Building blocks
All these conversations occupy the tip of the Maslow’s Pyramid in Paralympics. Meanwhile, the base — the grassroots — still has much work to do. Satyanarayana Shimoga, a former middle-distance runner turned coach and administrator, has witnessed the seasonal changes in India’s Paralympic journey.
“I’ve spent time in East Germany and Kenya; both are polar opposites in terms of societal advancement. But Kenya, without resources, would win medals, sometimes on par with East Germany. That left me stumped. If they can do it, why can’t India figure out a way to excel?” he says, adding that he had asked himself this question over a decade ago. The answer now lies in training athletes like H.N. Girisha and Mariyappan, among others, to reach the podium over the next three Paralympic cycles.
For Satyanarayana, the health of the ecosystem boils down to the health of the most rudimentary block of the system — sports in schools. But he is candidly critical of the first identifiers of talent: physical education teachers in schools.
“Our physical education teachers need to get active themselves,” he says.
“Sports teachers are supposed to observe students and recognise their potential. But now, they’re just martials. If someone misbehaves, they’re there to punish or correct. This cannot be how the system functions,” Satyanarayana laments.
With vast experience working in senior positions within the athletics ecosystem, both for able-bodied athletes and athletes with disabilities, the Bengaluru native identifies a major area of untapped potential in India: university sports.
“The World University Games is a huge international event, and it’s a stepping stone for many athletes who go on to become world champions. India has never taken this tier of competition seriously; it’s treated as a formality. During the formative years — school and university levels — the same 15 to 20 people circulate through multiple sports. It requires better planning and collaboration from all stakeholders.”
This foundational approach applies to stadium infrastructure as well.
“Stadiums at the district level need an overhaul. Sometimes the toilets don’t even have doors. These are basic things that can change. It’s (development) a massive subject, and it needs a lot of support and personnel to make it work.”
All about attention
Satyanarayana hails Deepa’s role, particularly as an eloquent communicator, in rebranding the image of the PCI, which has often found itself embroiled in controversy over the years. Infighting, corruption — it’s the usual menu.
Bronze medalist Preethi Pal after her win in the 100m T35 event at the Paris Paralympic Games 2024. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
That aside, the Paralympic vertical in India needs sustained attention, especially for a campaign the administration was so confident would succeed.
“Media rights are a crucial aspect of contributing to the Paralympics. No one wanted to purchase the bundle. We individually bought the rights to the feed and then approached Jio. The hesitation was there because no one believed we would win so many medals,” Satyanarayana recollects.
The PCI also partnered with Zomato to amplify the stories of success from the Indian camp and assembled a sizable social media team to generate content from within the contingent.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s contribution too has been vital, not just as an elected official but as someone with the largest social media presence in the nation.
“He mentions us in his speeches, shares our stories on his radio shows, and spends his birthday with disabled children in Navsari. That visibility, after being invisible for so long, goes a long way,” Deepa adds.
Tip of the iceberg
Jhajharia remembers a time when he was offered citizenship by the UK, just after breaking the world record in 2003, a year before his Paralympic triumph. Back then, he was determined to achieve success in Indian colours. Now, after an illustrious career as an athlete, he couldn’t have asked for a better start to his tenure with the PCI.
But this is just the beginning. As para sports continue to evolve in India and around the world, Jhajharia and Co. need to find ways to keep the assembly line of talent running and ensure that facilities can keep up with the growing demand.
“Junior and sub-junior talent identification is the first order of business. We need to go into every district and scout for talent,” Jhajharia explains. “If we start now, we can have them ready — if not for 2028, then at least for 2032.”
He also highlights the potential within the Armed Forces.
“There are several soldiers with injuries or disabilities who we can induct into the Paralympic fold,” he said.
Jhajharia hopes to adopt some of the best practices he observed during the Paris Games into India’s para sports programmes. He specifically mentions Tajikistan and its success in blind sports, which he hopes Indian officials can learn from during an exposure trip to the country and come back with ideas to enhance the Indian systems.
“Swimming is another area where we want to increase participation. If we improve participation, our chances of winning medals will also increase.” For Kamath, improving India’s performance in team sports is the ultimate marker of growth.
“If you notice, we weren’t represented in any team sport this time. I think the maturity of an ecosystem is demonstrated when you don’t just produce one or two players with potential, but when you can produce a full team of 15. If we can aim for that, I believe many other things will start falling into place.”
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