Tag: Paralympic Games

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Kerala Sport Sports

‘Meet the Champions’ initiative kicked off in Kerala

The World Championships silver medalist also gave his valuable advice to students on love and passion for the sport, following a disciplined life, and having a ‘Santulit Aahaar’ (Balanced Diet)…reports Asian Lite News

Tokyo Paralympics bronze medallist Sharad Kumar on Friday kicked off Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Meet the Champions’ initiative by visiting Kerala’s Cotton Hill Government Girls Higher Secondary School, here.

Besides members of the host school, student representatives of 75 schools from various districts of Kerala also got the opportunity to attend the event and interact with the high jumper.

Talking about his personal experience with various sports Sharad said, “I for sure didn’t know that High Jump was going to make it so good to me, I chose it because High-Jump called me. I was playing cricket, football, and Table Tennis, I gave myself openly to the sport and never said I am only good in football or cricket and thus will not play this sport.”

“I saw how every game had an impact; chess made me mentally strong, football gave me agility and the High Jump told me what Physics and Science is. I did sports as I loved it and didn’t make a compulsion out of it,” he added.

The World Championships silver medalist also gave his valuable advice to students on love and passion for the sport, following a disciplined life, and having a ‘Santulit Aahaar’ (Balanced Diet).

“The only shortcut to a good and successful life is eating on time, sleeping, the following discipline, and not leaving things halfway,” he said.

“Food doesn’t need to be expensive to give you nutrients, even inexpensive food items can give you the nutrients you require. So have every food item, big or small, expensive or inexpensive, just check it has the nutritional content that you require,” he added.

Sharad, who is a Sports Authority of India (SAI) coach, also went on to give young upcoming athletes tips on being a better high jumper and also showed his own skills in the game of table tennis.

Notably, ‘Meet the Champions’ initiative is part of the government’s ‘Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ that was kicked off by Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra in December, last year and then taken ahead by bronze medalist Bajrang Punia and sailors Varun Thakkar and KC Ganapathy in the coming weeks.

During their visit, the Olympians share their own experiences, life lessons, tips on how to eat right and also give an overall inspirational boost to school children.

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-Top News India News Sport

Breaking stereotypes, these Raj girls opt for unconventional careers


The accident left Avani demotivated but the biography of Olympic gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra instilled fresh hope in her and she worked hard to add a feather in her cap….reports Archana Sharma

Rajasthan, which was once known for its low sex ratio and lower literacy rate for women, is now making news with its girls winning laurels for the state by earning name and fame while choosing the most unconventional careers, irrespective of whether they were brought up in rural or urban areas of the state.

Avani Lekhara (19) is the latest example. She won the gold medal in women’s 10m air rifle standing event in the SH 1 category at the Tokyo Paralympics. She was brought up in a small town Dholpur and had met with an accident due to which her spinal cord was injured.

Avani, wanting to do something different, chose shooting. The accident left her demotivated but the biography of Olympic gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra instilled fresh hope in her and she worked hard to add a feather in her cap.

Pic credits IANS

In the same series, 10-year-old athlete Pooja Vishnoi from Guda Vishnoiyan village of Jodhpur was in the news for her six packs which she developed when she was 7. Besides being an athlete, she is a cricketer too and is the only member from Rajasthan in the Virat Kohli Foundation. Pooja recently shot an ad with cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Presently, she is working hard to bring a medal for India in the next youth Olympics to be held in 2024. The Virat Kohli Foundation manages her sport and diet plan too. She is the youngest member among 16 kids selected by the Foundation.

Another young woman Megha Kapoor is hitting the headlines by being a certified health coach and has clients from Delhi, Mumbai, USA and even Africa while being located at Jaipur.

When young, she was irritated with comments related to body shaming which inspired her to take up this unconventional profession. After somebody at her sister’s wedding asked her if she was eating for 2 people, it hurt her and her self-esteem and gave birth to a whole lot of body image issues. She then chose this career and went to London to pursue the course.

“Being a female fitness coach means competing in a very male dominated industry in India – not easy but that should never stop us,” says this founder of Megha Squad adding “Unfortunately, in India, not many people know about being a certified health coach. However, the COVID pandemic has taught us to take health awareness seriously and act upon it. So, people have started being more conscious of their lifestyle choices when it comes to health and hence the career is now drawing more credence.”

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-Top News COVID-19 Sports

No decision yet on Pfizer offer to vaccinate athletes

Now, the vaccines are only being given to people aged 38 or older in UK with younger people only getting inoculated if they have an underlying health condition…reports Asian Lite News.

The UK government is yet to make a decision on whether to accept an offer from Pfizer to speed up Olympic and Paralympic athletes for coronavirus vaccines, according to reports.

The UK Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston, according to reports, said it is sensitive because the philosophy has been based on age and that’s been proved to be the right thing. He said “age is the biggest factor and of course Pfizer have offered for the Olympics and we’ve asked them about that.”

Now, the vaccines are only being given to people aged 38 or older in UK with younger people only getting inoculated if they have an underlying health condition.

Earlier this month, Pfizer said that it would donate doses to inoculate athletes and officials preparing for the Tokyo games with the rescheduled Olympics due to open on July 23.

Meanwhile, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) chief Andrew Parsons on Sunday exuded confidence in Tokyo’s ability to host the Paralympic Games and Beijing’s commitment to the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.

IOC president (ANI)

Marking the 100-day countdown to the Paralympic Games, Parsons said: “It’s a nice coincidence that the 100 days to go (for Tokyo) is the same day as the National Disability Day in China. I think, what we experienced at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was exactly what we want to translate to the whole world, to change the view of societies towards persons with disability and change the mindset.”

Parsons emphasised the importance of hosting the Games amid the pandemic, calling Tokyo “the most important edition of the Paralympic Games in the history of the Paralympic movement”, reports Xinhua

“Persons with disability have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. And this has highlighted the inequality around the world in how societies treat persons with disability,” said Parsons.

“The Paralympic Games is the only global event where we celebrate disability and persons with disability. I would like to reassure the Paralympic athletes of the world that we are doing our utmost to provide the best infrastructure and the best possible Games. So, we want them to focus on their preparations and understand that everything will be very similar to what they are used to.”

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