Pranav Soorma: Proud of winning Paralympic silver, but the true reward lies in never giving up and showing up each day

People are always surprised when I tell them about my practice schedule. My day begins when most people are asleep. I wake up at 1 a.m. so I can reach the training ground by 3, where my coach, Naval Singh sir, is waiting.

I train at that time as a consequence of my spinal injury — my body doesn’t sweat naturally. In summer, once the sun rises after 6 or 7, exercising and doing explosive movements becomes nearly impossible for me. So, I work from 3 a.m. to around 9 a.m., winding down just as other athletes are starting their sessions.

I’ve followed this routine since 2022, when I began training with Naval sir. It might sound strange, but it works. It brought me medals at the 2022 Asian Para Games and a silver at the Paris Paralympics, and I’m hoping it will help me again at the upcoming World Championships in New Delhi.

The challenge this time is the change in equipment. In club throw, our club weighs around 400 grams, but its weight distribution has now been altered. That makes it harder to throw as far, much like when the javelin’s weight was changed and the world record dropped from over 100m to around 97m. I still think a winning throw in New Delhi will be close to 35m, and I believe I can reach that mark.

When I think about results, I won’t lie — I want a gold medal. According to Naval sir, that’s the only medal that counts. I feel I could have won gold at the Paris Paralympics too, but fate had other plans. At the Indian selection trials, I threw 37.23m. But three days before my event in Paris, I was struck by a severe fever and infection. I couldn’t leave my bed for two days before competing.

Still, Naval sir kept me going. He told me, half-jokingly, that he wouldn’t let me back into India without a medal. By God’s blessing, I managed to summon enough strength to throw for a silver despite my condition.

This time, though, I want to perform not just for myself but for India. A strong showing at the Para Athletics World Championships would be a big step for our country. I want the para sports movement to grow, to inspire more athletes, and to change more lives — just as sports changed mine.

I was in Class 11, in 2011, when an accident damaged my spinal cord. At first, I couldn’t move my hands, get up from bed, or even breathe without support. At 16, I thought my life was over. Just when I was supposed to take flight, my wings were broken.

It took time to accept that I had no movement below my chest. My parents were my pillars — they never let me dwell on what I’d lost. They told me I could still build a meaningful life, whether I chose to work, study, or pursue something else. They only wanted me to be happy and financially secure.

Ironically, I might never have entered sports without my injury. Before it, I hadn’t dreamed of being an athlete. Even after the accident, I planned to study, get a stable job as an engineer or CA, and secure my future. But over time, I felt I wanted more. I didn’t want to blend into the crowd. I wanted to do something distinctive.

I tried para sports in 2018 under coach Giriraj Singh sir at Faridabad stadium. That’s where I discovered club throw. Because my fingers couldn’t grip the club, I had to use gum to make it stick to my palm. It was tough, but within weeks I loved it. My life before sports felt like living in a cage. When I came to the stadium, I finally felt alive.

I won bronze at Nationals, then silver at my first international competition — the 2019 Beijing Grand Prix. But the reality was harsh. I wasn’t earning anything.

My parents, not wealthy to begin with, took loans to fund my training and travel. I could only train on Sundays, when my father was free from work to take me. Despite working hard, I couldn’t see a future in sport. So, in 2020, after I got a government bank job, I decided to leave athletics.

But God had other plans. In 2022, Giriraj sir persuaded me to give it another shot and introduced me to Naval sir. That meeting changed my life.

Naval sir had been coaching for 15 years and knew not only how to train but also how to map an athlete’s entire journey: how to secure sponsors and how to fight the battles that mattered. After our first month together, he told me to bring a new diary. On the first page, he wrote: ‘Pranav Soorma, Asian Para Games gold medal, Paralympic medal, Asian record holder, World record holder.’

I laughed and told him, “Sir, I’ve just started. Is this even possible?” He replied, “I know how to dream. I know how to show dreams. And I know how to fulfill them.”

The only condition was belief. If he said night was day, I had to believe him. If he told me to train at 3 a.m., I had to do it. And he was right. I went on to win Asian Para Games gold with an Area record, and then a Paralympic silver in Club Throw F51.

I still write in that diary; my achievements, my goals, and my gratitude to God. When people ask who inspires me, I don’t have to look anywhere else.

Destiny, too, plays its part. My surname, Soorma, means the ultimate fighter in Punjabi. I believe it’s in my blood to fight till the end. That’s why I brand my name everywhere — on my wheelchair, my T-shirt, even my caps. I want people to see it. And now, they do.

Since Paris, my life has changed. My medal brought happiness to my family and pride to my country. I received the Arjuna Award earlier this year. People who once doubted me, saying I would never amount to anything, that I was just dependent on my family — now ask to take pictures with me. I see the change in their eyes: This boy has done something.

The silver medal hangs framed on my wall. I look at it often. But I don’t think it’s my biggest achievement. The real achievement is that I never gave up. After my accident, I wanted to quit on life itself. I thought it had no meaning. But I kept moving forward.

Today, I am alive, competing, and winning. The Paralympic medal and Arjuna Award are rewards, but the greatest victory is showing up every day and living life as it’s meant to be lived.

As told to Jonathan Selvaraj

Published on Sep 24, 2025