After delivering a sub-par opening throw in the finals of the men’s shot put F46 event on Wednesday afternoon at the Paralympics, Sachin Khilari knew that he had to pull up his socks.
He returned to the plate, let out a war cry and hurled the shot put to the 16.32m mark. He was in medal contention but kept fighting for more. And had it not been for a superlative 16.38m throw from Greg Stewart of Canada, gold might well have been Sachin’s.
But as Sachin walked away with a smile, knowing that the silver medal was his, he will know that he has well and truly emerged victories in the battle of life, one that threw curveballs at the him at a rather early stage.
A crippling accident
Born in a farmer’s family in Karagani village in Maharashtra’s Sangli district, tragedy struck when in school, a bicycle accident left young Sachin with a fractured left arm.
When gangrene and muscle atrophy led to a possible amputation, his family intervened. While surgical intervention helped in a way, the arm was always going to be underdeveloped.
The pain of the injured arm notwithstanding, the loss of his mother ate into the youngster as well.
But his father stepped up and supported Sachin and his brother despite the financial woes brought about by frequent droughts in the Sangli district.
Sachin, however, was determined. He was good at academics and sports.
Introduced to para-sports in 2015, he would win gold at the 2017 national games. In parallel, Sachin secured a mechanical engineering degree and began teaching at coaching centers where students prepared for the MPSC entrance examinations.
This offered a much needed fillip to the Khilari family. But there was another twist in the tale.
An injury that helped
Initially a promising javelin thrower, an injury to his right bicep meant that he was unable to execute the movement of the javelin throw.
While he did attempt rest and therapy, there was no respite and his javelin career care to an abrupt halt.
But the injury paved the way for another sport, shot put.
And when the switch happened, he began training on a full-time basis in 2019.
The new sport proved to be a shot in the arm for Sachin.
He began winning gold medals on a consistent basis at the National Para Athletics Championships, five to be precise.
In 2022, he tasted his first international success, a gold medal at the Asian Para Games. The next year, he repeated the feat, this time with a new Asian Record.
And early this year, he bagged a coveted gold medal at the World Para Athletic Championships.
While a gold might have eluded him at the 2024 Paralympics, the 34-year old is only getting started.
With steely resolve and fire in his belly, the man from Sangli is hungry for more.
And the next time you’re at a para-athletics event, listen to the war cry, for Sachin Khilari might just be on the prowl.