Jalandhar boy beats all odds to win gold in international para athletics

Jalandhar, February 26

Ten years after Jalandhar’s Akash Mehra lost both his legs in a train accident, he has not relented. Rather he has been continuously striving to achieve more and more.

He had earlier bagged a silver medal in the Asian Youth Para Championship in Dubai in 2017. He recently won a gold medal at the recently concluded 2023 Sharjah International Open Athletics Meet. He had thrown javelin at a distance of 35.04 m in javelin wheelchair men’s final.

Despite all the stacked against him, he has been focussing on his training. Since winning the championship, the 23-year-old has yet not returned to his place in Basti Guzan, and is currently undergoing training at the Sports Authority of India in Gandhinagar.

“I am proud of my success and I wanted to join my family in this time. But I have a national event coming up next month, which is my immediate target besides some international events already lined up,” he said.

The double amputee who has been using blades said, “I have to attend a world ranking event in Switzerland in July. But there are several issues which have to be sorted out before that. I had got my right feet changed in November. But I am yet to arrange a change for my left one, which will cost around Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh. Instead of using a wheelchair, I have stand while playing to gain more an edge in the game. I am also practising long jumps with my blades.”

“Even the cost of the Switzerland event has to be borne by me personally. I really do not know how I will afford it,” the much-spirited youth rued, while calling for some help

Akash is enrolled in BA (first year). His mother runs a crèche in Jalandhar. He has two elder brothers.