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Some Lesser Known Facts About Yogesh Kathuniya

Yogesh Kathuniya is an Indian Paralympic athlete who competes in the track and field event of discus throw. He has represented India in the 2020 Summer Paralympics that were held in Tokyo and won a silver medal in the men’s discus throw F56 event.

Yogesh Kathuniya’s father was in the Indian Army and he was posted in the Chandimandir Cantonment in Haryana. In 2006, Yogesh was eight years old when he suffered a paralytic attack and he was diagnosed with a rare disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome followed by quadriparesis that forced him to depend on a wheelchair.

Yogesh was bound to a wheelchair with no scope of improvement; however, his mother learned physiotherapy to ensure that Yogesh regains his muscle strength. After three years of physiotherapy, Yogesh was able to stand on his feet, and he got rid of the wheelchair.

In school, Yogesh would get mocked by the other students, and he showed no interest in participating in any sports activity. In 2017, Yogesh went to Kirori Mal College, Delhi to pursue a bachelor’s degree in commerce and made some new friends. One of his friends and the general secretary of the students’ union of Kirori Mal College, Sachin Yadav, encouraged Yogesh and introduced him to the world of para-athletes. During an interview, Yogesh said-

Sachin Yadav was general secretary of the students’ union at Kirori Mal College in New Delhi where I was pursuing B.Com. He encouraged me to take up a sport and motivated me by showing videos of para athletes. Somehow I got a liking for discus throw and decided to give it a try.”

Yogesh’s interest in athletics and his strong built were noticed by the college coaches and eventually, he began training under renowned coach Naval Singh at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi. Yogesh spent a lot of time training with Naval Singh, and in 2018, Yogesh participated in the 2018 World Para Athletics European Championships in Berlin and created a world record. He threw the disc to a distance of 45.18 m.

In 2019, Yogesh participated in the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai and won a bronze medal.

India’s #YogeshKathuniya won the silver medal in men’s discus throw F56 category with a throw of 42.05m at the World Para Athletics Championships. With this he also won a 2020 Paralympic quota. @BhyanEkta also won a quota in women’s club throw F51.
Many Congratulations. pic.twitter.com/4R24VP0nND

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) November 12, 2019

The win in Dubai booked a berth for Yogesh at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, and he made it worth the effort by winning a silver medal in the men’s discus throw F56 event with the best throw of 44.38 m.

After Yogesh won the silver medal in Tokyo, his mother spoke to the media and talked about the tough times they had to face during the wheelchair-ridden phase of Yogesh. She said-

While the doctors at the Command Hospital at Chandimandir said they couldn’t see Yogesh walking in the future, I didn’t believe that. For more than two years, I would tie him with a cloth on my Scooty and take him for physiotherapy sessions at Command Hospital and PGIMER. To see Yogesh win the silver medal in Tokyo while tied with a strap to the wheelchair made me remember all those hard days. The silver is worth more than gold for us.”

She further added,

Apart from the Army hospitals, I would also travel to places like Agra, Meerut, and Jaipur when somebody told me to get Yogesh massaged from a local masseur. I remember once I spent more than 20 days at a famous massage specialist in a village on the Jaipur-Jodhpur highway in the sweltering June heat. I also learnt physiotherapy and when Yogesh recovered, the same doctors at Base Hospital told me that it’s a miracle.”

It was reported that with the help of his college friends and the Asian medallist Neeraj Yadav, Yogesh was able to begin his training at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The family also took financial help from Neeraj and some of Yogesh’s friends to support his first trip abroad for competing in an event. Yogesh’s mother said-

Friends like Neeraj helped Yogesh and it’s their silver medal too.”

During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Yogesh gained more than 15 kgs which affected his performance during the training sessions. On the other hand, Naval Singh was tested positive for the virus in 2020, and he tested positive again in May 2021. Due to this, he sent Yogesh to train under 2018 Asian Games silver medallist Virender Dhankar.

Yogesh is fond of the Indian sweet rasmalai and he loves khichdi. During the interview, his mother informed the reporters how Yogesh would eat 4-5 plates of rasmalai before his paralytic attack and he continued to follow that ritual despite the hardships he faced in life.

Yogesh also has a YouTube channel named ‘Bichu Don Gaming’ which he started in the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Yogesh posts gameplay of the famous battle royale game ‘PUBG’ on his channel. He occasionally posts vlogs of his training sessions and daily routines as well on his channel.

Yogesh won a gold medal in shotput at the Open Para Athletics Championship in 2018 in Bengaluru.