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

Palak Kohli, 19
badminton
Training location: Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Hails from: Jalandhar, Punjab
Challenges that she overcame
“To reach where I am, the major challenge that I had to overcome was how people saw me—as a person with disability. There would always be some sort of sympathy from them and they would use terms like ‘bechari’ to address me. With my achievements in para badminton, people who saw me as ‘different’ are now extremely proud of me. I have become the youngest, the first and the only para badminton athlete to qualify for three categories at the Paralympics. My disability has become my ‘super ability’. It has given me a golden opportunity to represent my country at the prestigious event.”