Para Asian Games: Rice-dal diet no bar for Simran Sharma to strike gold
Athletes rule the roost for India with six of their seven gold medals so far as they lag at sixth position in medals tally
The Indian haul at the ongoing Para Asian Games at Aichi Nagoya is far behind when compared to three years back in Hangzhou—with them currently in sixth position with a total of 30 medals (seven gold, 10 silver and 13 bronze). Simran Sharma, the sprinter with vision impairment who was India’s flagbearer in the opening ceremony, justified her billing when she equalled the Asian Para Games record by clocking 24.80 sec in women’s 200m T12 event to add the seventh gold to the tally on Tuesday, 20 October.
Simran matched the timing set by Iran’s Hajar Safarzadeh earlier in the heats, but the latter finished with a silver at 25.02 sec. Tejalben Damor, her debutant and compatriot, completed the podium with bronze. Interestingly, except one gold coming from shooter Mona Agarwal, all six others have from track & field so far—Simran, Nishad Kumar, Rinku Hooda, Soumya Kumar B, Pranav Soorma and Devendar Kumar.
Born with a visual impairment, it had been a gruelling journey for Simran—who had been fighting travel fatigue and managing on a basic diet of rice and dal during her stay in Japan as she is a vegetarian. Asked about coping with lack of diet options available in Aichi Nagoya, Simran didn’t mince words: ‘’It’s okay. We are Indians. We push ourselves.’’
Her journey in athletics continued undaunted despite difficult circumstances at home, including her father Manoj Sharma’s prolonged illness and untimely death—though those early experiences helped shape Simran’s determination to pursue athletics despite obstacles in her path.
Simran first displayed her natural athleticism at school, where she won medals for fun in whatever track events she participated. The direction of her life changed when she met Gajender Singh, an army personnel and fellow athlete who recognised her potential. Gajender became her coach and eventually her husband, supporting her ambitions emotionally and financially. His belief in her abilities played an important role in her development as a para-athlete.
A defining moment of Simran’s career came at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championship when she competed at the event while dealing with uncertainty over her father’s health. Her father passed away soon after Simran’s return and the para athlete channelled her grief into her sporting ambitions.
She then qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, taking another significant step in her international career and there has been no stopping her since.