Mariyappan
Thangavelu is India’s star entry into the Tokyo Paralympics. The Tamil Nadu
high-jumper won gold at the Rio Paralympics in 2016, which catapulted the
26-year-old to international fame overnight. Thangavelu has had a long and
illustrious career, he was the first Indian to win a gold medal in a high jump
event, the one to break the Asian record in F-42 category and continues to hold
the regional record.

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Mariyappan Thangavelu
was only five years old when a bus overran his right leg, causing the leg’s
growth to get stunted. But a sports enthusiast from childhood, Thangavelu did
not allow the accident to sway him from his passion.

At first,
Thangavelu fell in love with volleyball. He played the sport at school and
thought he would make a career out of it. It was his school sports teacher who
introduced Mariyappan Thangavelu to high jump.

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Raised by a single
mother in a humble home, Thangavelu had to overcome several challenges in order
to pursue sport. His mother worked as a daily wager and then a vegetable vendor,
according to Sportskeeda.

Out of school,
Mariyappan Thangavelu pursued a bachelors degree in business administration at
the AVS College of Arts & Science. It was here that he first got his break.
However, Thangavelu’s first tryst with the sport ended in heartbreak. He failed
to qualify for the 2012 Paralympic Games and was about to give up on the sport.

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When things looked
really bleak for the young high jumper, a Bengaluru-based athletics coach named
Satyanarayana noticed Thangavelu’s talent and took him under his wing. With the
coach came support of the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

With support from
the sporting federation, Mariyappan Thangavelu was given proper training and
adequate facilities which led him to qualify in the Rio Paralympics where he
won gold.