NEW DELHI:
Ekta Bhyan
clinched the
gold medal
in the
women's F51 club throw event
at the
World Para Athletic Championships
with a season's best throw of 20.12m. Kashish Lakra secured the silver medal with a throw of 14.56m, while Nadjet Boucherf of Algeria took the bronze with a score of 12.70m.
Ekta, who is a Haryana Civil Services (HCS) officer, had previously won a bronze medal in the
Asian Para Games
in China.
The 38-year-old took up sports after being selected for the Haryana government as an HCS officer and also won a gold medal in the club throw event at the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta. She had also qualified for the
Tokyo 2020 Paralympics
.
Despite her dreams of pursuing a career in the medical field being cut short by a tragic accident in 2003, which left her wheelchair-bound with a quadriplegic spinal cord injury, Ekta persevered and found success in sports.
The accident occurred near Kundli in Sonepat district when a truck overturned on her cab on the Delhi–Haryana border, resulting in the loss of six other students' lives.
India's medal tally at the championships has now increased to five, with two gold, three silver, and two bronze medals. Deepthi, a Para Asian Games gold medallist, broke the world record in the women's 400m T20 category race with a time of 55.07 seconds on Monday, while
Nishad Kumar
(T47 high jump) and
Preethi Pal
(T35 200m race) won a silver and bronze, respectively, on Sunday. The World Para Athletic Championships will continue until May 25.
(Inputs from PTI)
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