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Yogesh Kathuniya is a two-time Paralympics silver medallist. (Screengrab/JioCinema)
Yogesh Kathuniya is a soldier with the Indian Army and has won medals in several competitions across the world.
Yogesh Kathuniya has become the latest Indian athlete to win multiple Paralympic medals. Kathuniya won silver medal a second straight after Tokyo – in men’s discus throw F56 event of the ongoing Paris Paralympics 2024. The F-56 is a seating field event class for differently-abled athletes. People with amputations and spinal cord injuries take part in this classification.
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The 27-year-old is a soldier with the Indian Army.
Yogesh, at the age of 9, developed Guillain–Barré syndrome – a condition in which the body’s immune system starts attacking the nerves. He studied at Indian Army Public School in Chandigarh where his father served in the army at Chandimandir Cantonment.
Major Achievements
- Paris Paralympics (2024) – Silver Medal
- Tokyo Paralympics (2020) – Silver Medal
- Asian Para Games (2022) – Silver Medal
- World Para Athletics Championship (2023) – Silver Medal
- World Para Athletics Championship (2019) – Bronze Medal
- Handisport Open (2019) – Gold Medal
- Indian Open (2023, 2022, 2019) – Gold Medal
Yogesh’s mother learnt physiotherapy, and within 3 years, at the age of 12 he regained muscle strength to walk again. He attended the Kirori Mal College of Delhi University from where he graduated in Commerce and before becoming a para athlete.
In 2016, he took up para sports after being motivated by regularly watching videos of para-athletes. And in 2018, set a world record by throwing the disc to 45.18 m at the 2018 World Para Athletics European Championships in Berlin.
Yogesh qualified for the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo and competed in the men’s discus throw F56 event.
He threw the disc to 44.38 m and won a silver and was honored with the Arjuna Award by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, in November 2021 for his achievement.
