Para World championships: Deepthi shatters world record, wins 400m gold

PTI

Kobe (Japan), May 20

India’s Deepthi Jeevanji clinched the gold medal with a world record time of 55.07 seconds in the women’s 400m T20 category at the World Para Athletics Championships here today. Para Asian Games gold medallist Deepthi smashed American Breanna Clark’s earlier world record of 55.12 seconds set during last year’s edition of the championships in Paris. She also qualified for the upcoming Paris Paralympics.

Aysel Onder of Turkey was second in 55.19 seconds while Lizanshela Angulo of Ecuador was third in 56.68 seconds on the fourth day of competitions.

The 20-year-old Deepthi had qualified for the final after winning her heat in an Asian record time of 56.18 seconds on Sunday.

The T20 category is meant for athletes with intellectual impairment. Deepthi had won the 400m T20 gold in the Hangzhou Para Asian Games last year with the then Asian record of 56.69 seconds.

Interestingly, Deepthi has won several medals at the junior level while competing with able-bodied athletes. She had competed in the 2022 National Inter-State Championships in Chennai, running the 100m and 200m races.

Yogesh Kathuniya added a silver medal in the men’s F56 category discus throw with an effort of 41.80 metres. The F56 category is meant for athletes who compete in field events from a seated position.

Bhagyashri Jadhav picked up a silver medal in the women’s shot put F34 class with a throw of 7.56m. The F34 category is for field athletes with movement affected to a low degree in the trunk and arms with highly affected legs. India’s tally has now swelled to five medals — 1 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze. — PTI

Taunted once, Deepthi is now feted in village

New Delhi: For a long time, Deepthi Jeevanji’s parents were taunted by fellow villagers for having a “mentally impaired” child. But now they are counting the compliments as the same bunch converged at their modest house at Kalleda hamlet to celebrate her record-breaking effort. “Deepthi’s parents were daily wage labourers and they were struggling to run the family. On top of that they faced constant taunts from the villagers that a mentally impaired girl cannot get married,” Deepthi’s coach Nagpuri Ramesh said. “After Deepthi won gold in the Asian Para Games last year, the scenario changed. Now, the same villagers are praising them. They told me even the district collector and politicians of the area visited their house, which was a shock to them,” he added.

Deepthi’s father J Yadagiri and mother J Dhanalaxmi were so poor that they did not even have money to afford the bus fare to send their child from Warangal to Hyderabad when Ramesh wanted to train her at the Sports Authority of India centre. “She was spotted in a school meet by a PET teacher. When I told them to send Deepthi, they said they didn’t have money for the bus fare. I told the bus conductor that I will pay the fare when she reaches Hyderabad,” he said.

Ramesh said Deepthi’s parents had earlier sold their half-acre land due to financial difficulties but they bought an identical piece of land with the Rs 30 lakh reward she got for winning the Para Asian Games gold.

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