For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts

Losing A Limb In A Blast Didn't Stop This Blade Runner From Winning Triple Gold

Anandan Gunasekaran

What happened that day, changed Gunasekaran's fate forever. A mine was hidden in the snow, and he stepped on it. What he remembers next is lying on a pile of snow and ears ringing from the sound of the blast.

When his hearing was back after some time, he could hear his own screams and excruciating pain in his left leg. Hardly he could imagine that he will never see that foot again, mentioned a msn.com report.

After numerous visits to hospitals and going under the knife several times, it was there he found the purpose to live his life again. In a magazine, he read about Oscar Pistorius, a South African sprinter. Known as "the fastest man on no legs", he is a multiple gold-medal winning Paralympian.

Recalling his conversation with colleagues, whenever they asked him about his condition, Gunasekaran used to reply by saying, ""Kuch nahin hua hai, sab theek hai. Kuch tension mat le (Nothing has happened, everything's fine. Don't get tense)."

According to this report, his father was an auto-driver and therefore, financial constraints were always there in the family. Gunasekaran feared that he won't be able to help the family with the basic expenses. Thanks to the Army which supported him to cope with the hard days and it was in 2014, Gunasekaran got a blade and finally, he started training.

He used to fall down while practising but stood up because he wanted to make a name for himself. When people were busy calling him mad or crazy, he focussed on his training and ran with wooden legs itself and thus his dream of participating in the Paralympics was fulfilled.

But, for a man for whom the sky was the limit, this was not enough. It was in 2014, he went to Tunisia for this first international Grand Pix and came back home with a gold in the 200 m and a silver in 100m. This year in August, he participated in World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Paris, where he won the 200m gold. Currently, he is getting himself trained at Army Sports Institute in Pune and preparing himself to participate in the Tokyo Paralympics 2020.

Read more about: anandan gunasekaran sports