India at Paralympics: The Zeal to Win

admin November 22, 2024 0 Comments

In our series, India at Paralympics, we addressed certain aspects that help our Paralympians and all other athletes realize their potential and attain success. Today, as we sum up this series of learnings from the inspiring stories of our Paralympians we look at a very special factor that is evident in every Paralympian and in every athlete who loves their sport and their country. Yes, we are speaking about the determination, the drive to win…the desire to see the work done till the end. 

This year at the Paris Paralympics, Preethi Pal became India’s first and the only athlete to win two medals in the track and field category. Hailing from a small village in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district, Preethi was born with weak legs and an irregular leg posture, making her prone to various diseases. She was called a “cursed child” by the villagers, but Preethi’s determination proved to be far more stronger than insults and challenges thrown at her. At 17, she was inspired by watching the then Paralympians make their country proud and realized that she too, could pursue her dreams. Going into the Paris Paralympics, once the ‘cursed’ Preethi was confident enough that she would achieve her dream. Before the Paris Games, her coach and mentor Fatima Khatoon took her to Gajendra Singh, an army man and coach-husband of para athlete Simran Sharma for intensive training, Preethi says about the encounter, “The coach took me in on one condition, that I will never say no to training. He changed my technique, gave me proper nutrition, and worked on my endurance and strength. The medals in Kobe gave us a lot of confidence.”

An amazing quality seen in the Paralympians, is that they do not rely on second chances. Life itself is the second chance that they have received. Some have recovered from fatal injuries before turning to the sport and for some who were born with unfortunate disabilities in their bodies, being able to play the sport is the second chance that they have gotten from Life. They believe in proving themselves at every chance they get, they never say Better Luck Next Time, as there might not be a next time. They go in for every challenge with a do or die attitude. This attitude can only come when three factors are combined…the passion for the sport, the love for your country and an unshakeable belief in self. 

Another aspect of this unwavering determination is that the fear of failure appears to be on the lower side when it comes to the Paralympians. Most of the Paralympians come from a place where they have endured many insults and stigma from the society, rejection and discrimination is something that they have known for a long time. As a consequence, they do not carry the baggage of ‘what will people say’ anymore. People have said what they will, and now it is their chance to prove them wrong. The only vision they have is of their Ultimate Goal. Another reason here, is the disheartening fact that the Para athletes are more prone to injuries and physical discomfort than their able bodied counterparts. There is a lot of uncertainty for when something might come up which might stop them playing. Hence, they fearlessly execute their game at every chance they get to do so. 

High Jumper Praveen Kumar was grappling with an injury just 3 months before Paralympics. This is the same athlete who performed a record setting jump of 2.08m  in the T64 category, winning the Gold. There were many instances of para athletes getting injured before or during the Paralympics, but one factor common for all of them, was that they never gave up. 

Now as India sets its sight on the next Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Zeal to Win is one factor that every athlete needs to imbibe in themselves. Remember why you started, know your purpose and do what it takes to fulfill that purpose. Second chances are a good opportunity to prove oneself, but one must rely on those for achieving their dreams. Believe every chance you get to be the last one and fight for it!

Rasika Kalgutkar, Sports Psychologist, Mindsports

India At Paralympics: Believing in Yourself

admin November 6, 2024 0 Comments

In the last installment of our Paralympics series, we delved deeper into the role that Motivation plays in helping Paralympians excel at their sports. The motivation to attain mastery in a sport and to achieve success remains a crucial factor in their realizing their sporting career. But have you ever wondered where this unwavering motivation, to keep going in spite of the hardships thrown at them by life, comes from? 

Trevor Jenifer, an American Paralympic Wheelchair Basketball Athlete says,  “For the entirety of my life, I’ve been stared at because I’ve been different. You know, kids have stared at me, parents have stared at me, and it’s just because I didn’t have any legs. And now we’re changing that perspective—you could stare at me, but now you’re staring at me because I’m a two-time Paralympic gold medalist, I’m a father, and I’m a full-time employee with the federal government. I want people to know that there’s life outside of my disability. I don’t let my disability identify who I am. All these other things do. So it’s not just about the sport—it’s outside of sport. We’re demolishing the stigmas that surround disability.”

When we read this statement, the question that pops up first in your mind is, how does one develop such a strong sense of identity even when one is deemed to be different from the rest of the world? This strong sense of identity comes from an equally strong sense of self worth and belief in one’s abilities. In psychological terms, we call it Self-Esteem. In simple words, Self-esteem is how you feel about yourself, and the value you place on yourself. It’s based on your beliefs and opinions about yourself. Self-Esteem is a crucial factor when it comes to sport as it has an impact on the athletes confidence, their performance, their body image, their social relationship and on many such factors. 

Kapil Parmar, a visually challenged but tremendously cheerful Indian Paralympic medalist, experienced repeated abuses from his fellow villagers when he first started para-judo eight years ago, but it only fueled his drive to do something meaningful with his life. On September 4, Parmar, 24, became India’s first Paralympic medalist in judo, winning bronze in the men’s 60kg (J1) category at the Paris Games. “When I decided to start para judo in 2017, some people of my village taunted me about how I would play the sport as I can’t see but you always move ahead because of these taunts only,” Parmar told PTI in an interview.

Self-esteem starts developing from childhood and is affected by one’s upbringing, their life experiences, their achievements as well as their setbacks. One must always work hard to build a positive self image for themselves. Now this becomes even more challenging when one is born with a disability that hampers their daily functioning or when one loses one or more of their abilities to unfortunate incidents. Yet our Paralympians have proved to us that it might be tough but not impossible. When one strongly believes in their abilities and in the effort that they are putting in, in mastering a particular task, no disability can stop them from realizing their full potential. 

Let’s have a look at what learnings we can take away from our Paralympians and how we as athletes can enhance our self-esteem – 

• Prepare, Don’t Compare – You are your biggest competitor, and you must always strive to be better than yourself. By comparing ourselves with others we tend to reduce our self esteem by putting a negative filter on it.
• Recognise your Strengths – We all know what we are bad at, but it is rather more important that we know what we excel at. Our strengths are the steps that help us up the ladder of success. 
• Call it ‘Areas of Improvement’ rather than ‘Weaknesses’ – Our own mindset plays a role in determining whether we get better or stay stagnant. When you believe that you can always improve upon a particular aspect, growth is bound to happen.
• Set Realistic Goals – Dream Big, but when you prepare a roadmap to achieve those goals, set targets which are realistic and achievable in your current time frame. 
• Use Positive Self- Talk – Make a list of positive self-statements and read them to yourself every morning and night, or everytime you feel low on motivation.
• Solve the Problem – When a problem situation arises think, “How can I make it better?” Or “How can I contribute towards solving this problem?” rather than feeling sad about why it happened to you.

Self-esteem is an integral part of one’s identity, and athletes must take special care that they do not let their self-esteem go down, even in the face of setbacks. It is in those difficult moments that we need it the most. All individuals are different and unique in some way or the other, however, it is up to us how we make sense of our identity. Just like our Paralympians, we need to hold our heads high as we face the challenges that come. 

To learn from our Paralympians and get more glimpses of their journey, follow our blog series India at Paralympics! 

Rasika Kalgutkar, Sports Psychologist, Mindsports

India at Paralympics 2024: Biggest Lesson in Resilience

admin September 22, 2024 0 Comments

A young boy of 23, who was having fun with his friends at his aunt’s house, was struck by a tragedy that left him paralyzed from waist down. Dharambir Nain, the gold medal winner of men’s club throw F51 event at the Paris Paralympics 2024,  hit the rocks while diving in a river near his aunt’s house, this incident left him paralyzed from waist down and bed ridden for almost a year. His father had passed away in 2011, after that this incident in 2012 left him completely shattered. From being bed ridden to winning a Gold at the Paralympics, what would have been the journey of this man? A journey that no able bodied person can imagine. 

The Paris Paralympics 2024 was full of not just one such story but 84 stories of grit and resilience. India competed at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris from 28 August to 8 September 2024. We made our official debut at the 1968 Summer Paralympics and have appeared in every edition of the Summer Paralympics since 1984. This was India’s 13th appearance at the Summer Paralympics, and we sent a strong contingent of 84 athletes. The Paris edition turned out to be the most successful campaign yet as we won 29 medals, surpassing the tally of 19 at the Tokyo Olympics. Avani Lekhara was the first to open up the tally with a gold medal along with Mona Agarwal winning the bronze in the women’s 10m rifle event. Following them Kumar Nitesh, Pramod Bhagat, Sumit Antil and others also won Golds for India in their respective events. Many other athletes like Suhas Yathiraj, Nishad Kumar, Navdeep, Praveen Kumar, Marriappan Thangavelu, Preethi Pal and many more, won silver and bronze medals in their respective sports. 

These Paralympians have shown some of the greatest qualities in terms of Mental Toughness. In this blog, we focus on one of them which is Resilience. 

Each of the para athletes have gone through life shattering events in their lives. Some were born with unfortunate defects in their bodies and some have faced terrible accidents where they have lost their limbs or their mobility. However, they didn’t let their disabilities define themselves. One such example is Men’s Para Javelin Thrower Ajeet Singh. In 2017, Ajeet’s life changed dramatically when he got involved in a fatal train accident. While attempting to prevent his best friend from falling off the train, Ajeet became entangled in the wheels, resulting in the amputation of his left arm below the elbow. Despite this life-changing experience, Ajeet refused to let it shape his destiny. Four months following his recovery, he returned to training, focusing his emphasis on athletics. These athletes have strived hard to create a place for themselves in a world that does not very well understand them, which is only possible if one is highly resilient. Resilience is the psychological quality that allows some people to be knocked down by the adversities of life and come back at least as strong as before. Rather than letting difficulties, traumatic events, or failure overcome them and drain their resolve, highly resilient people find a way to change course, emotionally heal, and continue moving toward their goals. This sounds easier in words than done. 

Let us understand what are the characteristics of highly resilient people – 

• Awareness: They are aware of their emotional reactions, the situations they are in, and the behavior of others around them. 
• Problem solving: They look for solutions to problems instead of ruminating why something happened, and can identify the correct issue and create a solution. 
• Flexibility: They are adaptable and can respond to adversity or life crises. They may even use difficult events as an opportunity to try new things. 
• Positivity: They have a disposition to view the present or future positively and confidently.

As we reflect back on the Paralympic Games, these characteristics have been much evidently seen amongst our athletes. All eyes were set on Sheetal Devi, India’s para-archer who competes with her feet, hoping to win her first ever Paralympic medal at the Games this year. Whilst handling the global pressure, she finished at 9th position at the individual event. However, she came back stronger at the mixed team event by winning a Bronze medal, creating history for India with its first ever Paralympic medal in archery. Resilience can also be seen in the form of maintaining a legacy. It’s about overcoming challenges and maintaining a drive to win on a consistent basis. Avani Lekhara, India’s first female Gold medalist has proved this right by successfully defending her title at the Paris Games. 

Thus, whether it’s the pressure arising from injury or from defending a title, resilience becomes an important factor to help athletes focus on the right things. The good news is resilience can be built, it can be enhanced by using certain mental training strategies. It helps athletes bounce back stronger, but also to maintain their peak performance consistently. However, Resilience is not only limited to sports, it is a quality that helps athletes face the challenges in life as well. 

In this month’s blog, we explore the quality of resilience demonstrated by our athletes at the Paralympic Games 2024. However, resilience is not the only deal, there is a lot to learn from these athletes and their lives. In upcoming blogs, we will explore more qualities and life lessons that can be learnt from our Paralympians! Keep following “India at Paralympics” for more!

Rasika Kalgutkar, Sports Psychologist, Mindsports

Kiran Salunkhe, Sports Psychologist, Mindsports