Hearing, speech impaired athlete’s success speaks volumes

Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, July 30

A hearing and speech impaired young athlete Ankit Kumar (23) has been making waves. Kumar, who is getting trained in Jalandhar, will be playing in the 4th World Deaf Athletics Games going to be held in Lubin, Poland from August 23-28. He has been selected for the 100-m run event.

Communicating with coach a challenge

• One of the biggest struggles Ankit faces every time is his inability to understand what the coaches say. “Interaction and communication are the biggest challenges for Ankit. No coach can make him understand using sign language and thus this is an obstacle for him. It takes time for Ankit and his coach to develop a bond that normal athletes share. This is the problem that deaf players face in the country,” his father said.

Originally from Delhi, Ankit has been taking coaching in the city for the one year. His coach Sarabjit Happy is proud and said one can gauge his mettle from his participation in the world championship. “The kind of hard work he has put in to achieve success can’t be put into words,” the coach said.

This is not only the story of Ankit, whose resilience and perseverance has made him reach this far, but also about his father Kishor Kumar who has left everything just for his son and is living with Ankit in a rented apartment in the city. “I lost my job in Covid. I was in Delhi at that time. Then after the situation got a little better, I joined somewhere else. But then because of the championship, he decided to get his son trained by an experienced coach and thus left the job and came to Jalandhar. Since then, he has been living with Ankit, and taking care of all things.

In Delhi, Kishor Kumar’s daughter has a great role to play. A doctor, she is the one who supports her family financially. Kumar said she is the one who is of great support amid these times.

Even the coach praised the family and said it was not easy to leave your job and reside in a city on rent but the father has been doing everything to see his son growing.

Kishor Kumar said Ankit aims to qualify and win a medal in the Olympics for the deaf that will be held next year. He also said he observed the potential in his son at a very young age because he was always a great sportsperson.

The young and promising athlete has won several medals in the deaf category and has also participated in the games in the general category. Some of his achievements include, a gold medal in the 23rd National Deaf Senior Sports Championship in 100-m race event and bronze medal in the 22nd National Games of the deaf where he won the medal in 200 m and 4x100 m relay race.