Believe It Or Not-SAI Coaches Mariyappan And Sharad As Para Athletes Made Country Proud

Centre Government, through target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and Annual Calendar for Training and Competition (ACTC), have provided lakhs of rupees as financial assistance for training in India and abroad to the several para-athletes of the country. The SAI has given them all sorts of help and facilities for training.

Rakesh Thapliyal

New Delhi: Believe it or not, but it’s true. The two coaches of the Sports Authority of India have made India proud. MariyappanThangavelu and Sharad Kumar work as coaches but in Tokyo Paralympic Games 2020 they have won medals as athletes. It is a double delight for the country as they train athletes as a coach and also do their hard work as an athlete to win medals at the highest level.

On Tuesday, Mariyappan and Sharad surprised the world by winning Silver and Bronze medals respectively in the Men’s High Jump event. This is Mariyappan’s second medal from the Paralympic, in Rio 2016, he won the Gold.  Earlier, Singhraj Adhana won the bronze medal in the 10m air pistol SH1 event. The Indian medal tally reached 10.

Centre Government through, Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and Annual Calendar for Training and Competition (ACTC) have provided lakhs of rupees as financial assistance for training in India and abroad to the several para-athletes of the country. The SAI has given them all sorts of help and facilities for training.

Mariyappan’s highest jump of 1.86m in the final has been a Season Best score. Sharad also finished with a Season Best jump of 1.83m en route to his Bronze medal. Both are classified under T42 category, i.e. athletes have one or more impairment types affecting hip and/or knee function in one or both limbs and with activity limitations.

Tamil Nadu-based para-athlete Mariyappan has had been training at the SAI centre in Bangalore under coach Satyanarayana prior to the Tokyo Paralympics. He won the Padma Shri and the Arjuna Awards in 2017 as well as the Khel Ratna in 2021. Facilitated by the Government of India, Mariyappan has competed in five international competitions to the tune of Rs 13.04 Lakh from the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and Rs 27.79 Lakh from the Annual Calendar for Training and Competition (ACTC).

Sharad Kumar, meanwhile, has had been training in Ukraine for over two years prior to the Tokyo Paralympics under foreign coach Nikitin Yevhen at full cost to the Government of India, to the tune of Rs 80.75 Lakh from TOPS and Rs 21.72 Lakh from ACTC. The Govt also facilitated in assisting him in getting back to India from Ukraine during the peak of Covid-19 and also streamlining a smooth visa process. Sharad won the gold medal at the Asian Para Games 2018 and the Silver in World Para Athletics Championship 2019.

Haryana-based shooter Singhraj, who won the bronze with a total of 216.8 points, has also been assisted by the Govt in terms of competing internationally as well as financial assistance in procurement of air pistol and engagement of personal coach. The TOPS funding for him amounts to Rs 18.65 Lakh and Rs 36.65 Lakh from the ACTC.