Archana Mohan

Happy 2 months to those who celebrate 🫶🧿

Nishad Kumar won a Para World Championship gold with a PB of 2.14 meters. His story will make you believe the world isn’t all that bad. In my thirty-plus years of sports reporting, I have not heard a story like this. When Nishad Kumar first came to train in Panchkula, he wasn’t sure if he would be admitted. Nor was he certain about the fees the coaches charge every month. When his brother asked one of the coaches what the fee structure was like, he was told that it was a government facility and talented athletes are trained without charge. Thinking to himself that he had at least saved 1500 rupees for the family, Nishad made up his mind to be a high jumper. The coaches asked him if he was committed to the sport or if he was keen on playing to secure a government job. For Nishad, the goal was clear. He had to represent India and everything else would follow. The coaches took his number and informed him that he would get a call ahead of the next camp. “In two months, I got a call and was told that I needed to join the camp in a few days,” he said. “I packed everything I needed to – utensils, rice, atta, dal, my blanket, bedsheets, soap, oil, and all that you can think of – and even bought vegetables to take with me. Everything that I got filled up an entire auto. That’s how I went to the camp fully ready to stay there for as long as it was needed. My coaches were shocked to see me reach the camp with rice, atta and vegetables and asked what was wrong with me. The truth is I did not know that you get food and all else in a camp. That’s how my journey started.” When Nishad was in Dubai the first time, he wanted to buy something for his dad. “There was no money then,” he told me. “So I was thinking what I could get. Because there are severe power cuts in my village and we always use a torch, I thought I’d get a really nice torch for my dad. That’s what I bought for him from Dubai the first time.” When he earned a bit of money, the first gift was for his mother. “I took my mom to a jewellery shop and asked her to get something made of gold that I could afford,” said Nishad. “I wanted to see her wear it, for it would make me happy. For everything she has done for me, I had never given her much. This little gift made me really happy.” When we last spoke he had said to me, “Sir, please come to LA 28. I will win gold and beat Townsend in his own backyard (he had lost to the American in Paris 2024). I need to change the colour of my medal and I will do everything to do that.” Today in Delhi he did change the colour of the medal on his birthday. And yes his parents were there. Couldn’t be a better gift for them to see their son be world champion in front of their eyes. Well done Nishad.

THE HISTORICAL MOMENTS FOLKS! 🔥🤩 India's First Ever Individual Para Archery World Champion - Sheetal Devi 🇮🇳🏆