Krishna Nagar had a dream since childhood — to raise India’s flag high at the Paralympics. In doing so, he would fulfil his father Sunil Nagar’s dream, a sportsman who couldn’t continue his pursuit due to personal reasons.
Krishna made both his father and country proud when he won gold at the Tokyo Paralympics, becoming only the second Indian to achieve this in badminton.
Born in Jaipur, Krishna was diagnosed with dwarfism at the age of two. Faced with the risks of treatment for his growth impairment, his father Sunil introduced him to various sports, unaware that this would become a game-changer for Krishna.
From a young age, Krishna played cricket, football, and volleyball, and even tried the long jump, believing that sports might help him grow taller. He shared that participating in athletics significantly improved his explosive power.
Sports became an escape for Krishna, providing refuge from the taunts and bullying he endured due to his height of 4 feet 7 inches. The bullying persisted into college and on the sports field, affecting him so deeply that he abandoned his favourite sports like cricket and volleyball, retreating into himself.
“There were people who said I would not be able to do anything in life,” Krishna told The Bridge.
Unable to watch his son become a shadow of his former self, Sunil enrolled Krishna in a badminton academy in Jaipur.
“The bullying changed my son’s life, and he is now a Paralympic gold medallist. It motivated him to prove his detractors wrong and he did that in style by winning gold,” Sunil told The New Indian Express.
Two pivotal things happened during this time: Krishna made peace with his height and discovered para-badminton. When Krishna’s coach explained that there was a category in para-badminton that allowed for international competition, it was a game-changer for him. Since then, he has never looked back.
He began training under Gaurav Khanna, the head coach of the Indian para-badminton team and a Dronacharya awardee.
He began competing internationally, earning a bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Para Games and the World Para Badminton Championships in 2019. His defining moment came with winning the gold medal in the men’s singles SH6 category at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
Speaking about handling nerves at such big-stakes competitions, he told Sportstar that it’s about being calm. “Many times it happens that when you are playing such a big tournament, it’s about how you can control yourself, your emotions; that becomes more important. When you come into such a big tournament, you have to stay a little calm and play,” he said.
As the country celebrated his triumph, he faced a major blow when his mother passed away six months after his victory. “There were too many hurdles after her passing away. She was my everything. But then my mental situation worsened after her death. I sunk into darkness,” he told The Indian Express.
His friends and badminton helped pull him away from the dark place. He decided to do his best and started working on defending his Paralympic gold in Paris.
All eyes are on Krishna as we look forward to a potential repeat of his Tokyo success in Paris.
Edited by Pranita Bhat
No comments:
Post a Comment