Rinku Hooda Lost His Left Arm In An Accident As A Child. He Later Won Javelin Gold At Youth Asian Para Games

Rinku Hooda is still in his teens, but he is already a star among para athletes. The fact that he is battling a disability and doing India proud on the world stage in javelin, makes his achievements all the more special. Like all para athletes, his work is that much harder and he has to perform just a little bit extra to prove his worth on and off the sports arena.

Life took a turn for the first when he was just 3 years old. His left arm got stuck in a fan blade and from there on it was a one-handed battle. But he did not let that limit him. Rinku took part in 200m and 400m races. No handicap was going to diminish his passion for sports.

BCCL

He was the youngest para-athlete to take part in the 2016 Paralympics where he narrowly missed out on a medal with 4th position. The same thing happened a year later at the World Championships. Twice a medal had eluded him but things were about to look up.

The same year he clinched silver at the World U-20 Para Athletics Championships. At just 16 he had produced an exceptional performance at the top level. But he was not done. At the Youth Asian Para Games the same year he won a gold. Finally this teenage talent was converting his potential into performance and India was reaping the benefits.

BCCL

2018 saw him take another gold, this time at the National Para Athletics Championships. He was building on his previous successes. He is still a teenager but Rinku is carving out his own legacy for others to live up to. He is the present and future of Indian para athletics and it is time we recognised that.

Rinku has years ahead of him, but he has already achieved so much. But one would expect him not to rest on his laurels and look to aim higher. The 2020 Paralympics are less a year away and there's every chance he could bring us a medal.

World Athletics

Talent blossoming at an early age is a good thing. One hopes it does not fizzle out when he reaches his prime. At the end of the day, things can change in a jiffy but for a boy who lost his arm, he has grown up into a man who is winning us medals. That is the power of will and endurance that Rinku has used to get this far, it shall be the same sources of strength that will take him even further.