Disability to superability: How the world's best differently-abled athletes prep

The 16th Summer Paralympic Games began on August 24 in Tokyo, and is a testament to the grit of differently-abled athletes across the globe

Aug 28, 2021, 07:23 IST1 min

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Hiroaki Kajisa (left) of Japan and his guide Satoshi Toyoshima compete in the men’s 1500 m-T11 category at the test event in Tokyo

Image by Philip Fong / AFP

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Palak Kohli, 19badmintonTraining location: Lucknow, Uttar PradeshHails from: Jalandhar, PunjabChallenges 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, peop

Image by Vikas Babu for Forbes India

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Sandeep Chaudhary, 25Javelin throwTraining location: Bahalgarh, SonepatHails from: Jhunjhunu, RajasthanChallenges that he overcame“We come from a family of soldiers. My father was in the CRPF and was paralysed on duty in 2013. I was permanently disabled after a bike accident in 2008. Our villagers would pity us because of this and I was determined to get rid of that ‘negativity’. As a chi

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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Angel Archer, a Mexican paralympic discus throw athlete, practises in Naucalpan de Juarez, Mexico. He won a bronze medal during the 2019 Lima Parapan American Games

Image by Hector Vivas / Getty Images

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Jose de Jesus Castillo, a paralympic powerlifting medallist, exercises at his residence in Guadalajara, Mexico. He has been training at home since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic

Image by Refugio / Getty Images