From Losing An Arm As A Kid To Breaking World Records At Paralympics, The Story Of Devendra Jhajharia

Javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia made the country proud by winning a second gold medal for India at the Rio Paralympics. Devendra, also broke his own world record set by him at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens when he throw 62.15m and now he threw 63.97, 12 years later at the F46 men's javelin throw event.

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Devendra is India's top para-athlete with lots of experience in field events. The 35-year-old was born in Rajasthan's Churu district and now his achievements can be proudly celebrated by the whole country.

His feats, apart from the two Paralympic gold medals (Athens 2004, Rio 2016) include winning gold medals at the 2002 FESPIC Games in South Korea and 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships, apart from silver at the same event in 2015 and one at the 2014 Asian Games. In fact, his gold at the World Championships in 2013 was the first ever for India.

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Thanks to his gold medal, India's tally at the Paralympic Games rises to four, including two golds, one silver and one bronze.

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Devendra's success - made tougher against the backdrop of financial disabilities - is testament to his willpower and physical prowess.

In an interview with The Hindu this year, he recalled the day that his life changed.

"I must have been eight or nine years old when I got an electric shock. I was climbing a tree in my village and accidentally touched a live cable, which was apparently an 11,000-volt cable. So severe was the accident that let alone my left hand - it had to be amputated right away - nobody was sure whether I would be able to recover from it," Devendra had said.

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On his career graph since winning gold at Athens 2004, he said: "I feel I have been a consistent performer for well over a decade. Even after breaking the world record in 2004, I created the championship record while winning the gold medal at the World Championship in 2013. After that in 2014 at the Incheon Asian Games, I won silver. And not too long ago, I won silver medal in at the World Championship. Another big change I have noticed is that sports has got more and more importance in India. Every Indian wants to watch, if not play, sport. Fifteen years ago, it was a different world, but now everyone wants Indian sports to improve and a lot of people and institutions like GoSports are striving to achieve it."

A former Indian Railways staffer now employed by the Sports Authority of India, Devendra is coached by Dronacharya awardee RD Singh. He received the Padma Shri in 2012.