Paris Paralympics: Discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya wins silver medal again with season best throw

Discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya won silver medal at Paris Paralympics with his season best throw on September 5. On Day 5 on the games, Kathuniya with a 42.22 metre claimed his second Paralympic medal in the F56 category. He threw his best in his first attempt itself. 
 

Brazil's Claudiney Batista won the gold medal with his personal best throw of 46.86 metre. Greece's Konstantinos Tzounis bagged the bronze medal with a 41.32 metre throw. He won the bronze by a whisker as Slovakia's Dusan Laczko's throw was 41.20 metre.

This is India's eighth medal in Paris Paralympics and fourth in para-athletics. On Day 4, Nishad Kumar won his second silver in men's high jump whereas Preethi Pal bagged a bronze medal in 200m sprint. This is her second athletics medal at the ongoing games.

In the F-56 seated field event class, athletes with amputations and spinal cord injuries compete for glory.

Yogesh's journey to two Olympic medals

Kathuniya was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome which is a rare neurological disorder. The nine-year-old was left wheelchair-bound for two years. He was unable to work as the nerves take damage in this condition.
 

However, Yogesh's mother Meena Devi refused to accept her son's condition as final. She became Yogesh's in-house physiotherapist and helped him gain strength. After three years of hard work and continuous efforts, Yogesh got back on his feet and started walking again.

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Yogesh started playing para sports in 2016 when he was studying at Kirori Mal College, Delhi. A couple of years later, Yogesh registered a world record-breaking throw of 45.18 metre at the World Para Athletics European Championships in Berlin. The record was created in the F36 category. In Tokyo Olympics 2020, he won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics and was honoured with prestigious Arjuna Award.

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Yogesh aims to break the 50-meter mark in future. 

Yogesh gives back to the community

After his success in Tokyo Olympics, he opened the Yogesh Throwing Academy. The 27-year-old supports and trains other para athletes. He helps them financially as well.
 

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