Who is Yogesh Kathuniya, the Indian who won silver in Discus Throw at the 2024 Paralympics?

With a Season Best attempt of 42.22m, India’s Yogesh Kathuniya retained his silver medal in Men’s Discus Throw F56 at the Paralympics on Monday at the Stad de France in Paris.

Kathuniya finished behind Brazil’s Claudiney Batista, who created a new Paralympic record of 46.86m, and ahead of Greece’s Konstantinos Tzounis who clinched bronze with a best throw of 41.32m.

Interestingly at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics, the podium saw the same 1-2 finish as in Paris, with Kathuniya winning silver then with a best attempt of 44.38m.

Earlier this year, at the World Para Athletic Championships, the 27-year-old won the silver in his event.

When he was nine-years-old, Yogesh was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) — an autoimmune condition that affects the body’s nerves. It left him wheelchair-bound for two years. The thought of walking ever again never occurred to him. Playing sports was too far-fetched then.

His mother, Meena Devi, a homemaker, and his father, Gyanchand Kathuniya, a retired Indian Army officer, didn’t give up on him. Meena learned physiotherapy to assist her son and help with his recovery. Sure enough, in three years, Yogesh was on his feet again.

With the help of Sachin Yadav, the General Secretary of the student union at Kirori Mal College, Yogesh discovered para sports in 2016 as a 19-year-old.

Two years later, Yogesh staked his claim in this universe with a massive 45.18m throw in the F36 category at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin.

He would better his Personal Best two more times in 2022, this time in the F56 category at the Indian Open National Para Athletic Championship, with the latest mark being a massive 48.34m throw on home soil.