Inspirational Indian Paralympians: Part 1

The Indian contingent has 19 athletes participating in a total of 5 events in the Rio 2016 Paralympics. Similar to Summer Olympics in Rio, this is the highest ever representation for Paralympics from India. The event starts on 7^th September 2016. Historically, Indians have won a total of 8 medals in 12 Paralympics that they have participated. Irrespective of whether they win any medal or not, each one of them have made us proud by reaching this level and remain a source of inspiration for all of us. This article is the first of the series dedicated to them, where we cover each of the Indian Paralympians’ inspirational life stories. Read on..

Deepa Malik

What’s in a name? Well, her name is a combination of Dipa Deepa (Kamarkar) and (Sakshi) Malik, two of the girls who made India proud at the recently concluded Rio Olympics 2016.

Her event: Shot put

Background: Born in 1970, Deepa Malik’s life was all smooth having married a caring army man and giving birth to two children. Life turned upside down, when she was diagnosed of spinal tumor. Even though the tumor confined her to wheelchair by 1999, her passion woudn’t remain contained. She rose against the odds to get her name engraved in multiple awards and certifications. Her sports career started by the age 36. She is now well known as an accomplished swimmer, adventure sports player, international athlete, biker, as well as an entrepreneur

Major Achievements:

• She has got nominated in Limca Book of Records for her swimming
• Gold medal in Javelin and Silver in Shot put in IPC Oceania Asian Championship, Dubai March 2016
• She received Arjuna award in 2012

About the author

Sivaramakrishnan S

I love sports. I’m currently pursuing MBA and despite the rat race that’s going on around me, I still like watching test matches. I'm passionate about Chelsea and CSK.

Read More