Disability to superability: How the world's best differently-abled athletes prepped for the 2020 Paralympics

Varun Singh Bhati, 26
High jump
Training location: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi
Hails from: Jamalpur, Bihar
Challenges that he overcame
“My father, a farmer, moved our family to Greater Noida just to give us good education. At school, I played basketball very well and won many championships. However, I was rejected to play the nationals in spite of being one of the best players because of my disability. That made me choose an individual sport. My PT teacher encouraged me to take up high jump. In a few years, I was competing with able-bodied athletes, and won several state and national medals. I won the bronze at the Rio Olympics 2016 when I was 21. I was injured for the past three years and had no hope of getting through for the event in Tokyo. However, with consistent training, I overcame my injury and am now representing India.”