Jhajharia elated with historic Paralympic medal treble

Moments after his medal ceremony where he wrapped a silver medal around his neck, Devendra Jhajharia wanted to convey a message to his eight-year-old self: “I’ll tell him, ‘sabaash, Devendra, aapne ithihaas bana diya (well done, Devendra, you have made history)’.”

Pushing the boundaries isn’t new to him. Before the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, Jhajharia was the only Indian to have won two individual gold medals in the Olympics or the Paralympics. Now, he is the only Indian with three individual medals.

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His silver-winning effort of 64.35m in the javelin throw F46 final bettered his own Rio Paralympics world record of 63.97m, though Sri Lanka’s Dinesh Priyantha Herath threw 67.79m to win. Jhajharia, 40, had aimed for a golden hat-trick, having won in 2004 Athens and 2016 Rio with world record throws.

The silver was no less satisfying. “My goal was to win a hat-trick of medals for India, which I’ve fulfilled,” Jhajharia said.

The sole reason Jhajharia picked up javelin throw aged eight, when his left hand was amputated after coming in contact with an electric wire while climbing a tree in his village Churu, was to stop his friends from making fun of him. “My only thought behind taking up the sport was that I didn’t want to be called weak. I wanted to play, I wanted to win. Back then, I didn’t even know what the Paralympics was. When I did, it became my dream to win a medal for the country. Today, I have three,” he said.

A third medal, after overcoming the challenges due to Covid that caused a year’s delay to the Games. After losing his father and battling Covid-19 himself last year. After carrying on despite the absence of his category in the 2008 and 2012 Paralympics, a period that needed his wife’s intervention and support to ensure Jhajharia did not quit the sport.

“You have to train for this, you have to have self-belief, patience. I never compromise on training. I sleep on time, wake up on time. I always motivate myself saying ‘why can’t I do this, why can’t I push myself more’? That is why I am able to give my best performance at 40. That’s why this medal means a lot.”

Jhajharia’s career symbolises longevity, one that has spanned over two decades with multiple medals at the Paralympics, World Championships, Asian Para Games with world records to go with them.

“Playing for India for 20 years at the world level, winning medals for India for 20 years at the world level, it’s been a long career, one that makes me incredibly proud,” he said.

It makes him India’s greatest-ever Paralympian. “It makes me happy when I hear such terms… But over the years, I developed a much larger dream—that people should be aware of para sports and para athletes in the country. In 2004 when I won the medal, nobody really knew about it. Today, everyone in India is talking about it. For me, seeing that change is bigger than any tag,” Jhajharia said.

Chasing a third medal, Jhajharia put everything else aside. Training at the SAI centre in Gandhinagar since July last year, he only went home once for a couple of days to see his wife and two children. Jhajharia spoke to his daughter before his final on Monday. “She told me, ‘papa, you will win a medal. I have full confidence in you’. I can’t wait to go home and meet my daughter. I want to spend some time with her now. It’s been a long time away from her and my family.”

Which doesn’t mean Jhajharia is done with the sport he has refused to part ways with for two decades. “I’ll draw up a training plan looking at the upcoming tournaments. I’ll discuss the future with my coach and family. Ho sakta hai mein aapko Paris mein bhi nazar aun (you might see me at the 2024 Paris Paralympics as well),” he said.