Blade, wheels, and grit: How Indian para athletes are getting access to specialised equipment

“ Bachpan se hi racing ka shaunk raha hai (I have loved racing since childhood),” says Ankur Sagar.

He positions himself in a low, streamlined, kneeling stance on the seat. The structure, made of lightweight materials, has a three-wheeled design: two oversized rear wheels angled outwards for stability, and one smaller front wheel for steering. He propels himself by gripping the hand rims on the large rear wheels.

Ankur, who suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident in 2015, has been a wheelchair racer for the past five years. While most athletics events in para sport are similar to those in which able-bodied athletes compete, disciplines such as wheelchair racing and club throw are unique and exclusive to athletes with disabilities.

Club throw requires participants to sit in a throwing frame within a marked circle and throw wooden clubs. Pranav Soorma, a silver medallist in the men’s club throw F51 event at the Paris Paralympics, shares: “A throwing frame costs around INR 50,000 depending on the specific modifications required by the parathlete.”

Before receiving government backing under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) prior to the Asian Games in 2023, Pranav used to have his throwing frames made at local welding shops.

For clubs, even though each may cost around INR 10,000, he could not do the same. “Clubs are usually bought from overseas since the dimensions and weight requirements need to be very accurate and I haven’t found such manufacturers in India so far,” he says.

Parathletes can use the clubs provided by event organisers, but since the grip changes according to the disability of the thrower, they prefer to carry their own equipment, which must be approved by the technical committee.

Costly affair

As far as wheelchair racing is concerned, the expenses are enormous, which is a major reason it has struggled to join the growing wave of para athletics in the country.

The cost of a decent racing wheelchair may start from Rs. 4 lakh, according to Ankur. He doesn’t own one yet. “I share it with someone. For example, when the owner is competing in the 100m, I might race in the 400m,” says the 33-year-old.

Anil Kadian took a different route before ending up in wheelchair racing. Affected by polio at a very young age, Anil discovered wheelchair racing during his college days at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, when he randomly came across a video of Great Britain’s David Weir competing at the London Paralympics 2012.

When Anil expressed his desire to compete in wheelchair racing to a coach at a marathon in 2016, he was told: “It is an expensive sport. You have to take care of a lot of things and there is no such facility in India. You can try something else since you have the power and stamina.”

He tried his hand at discus throw before fate connected him with someone from Switzerland, who told him about an annual camp for wheelchair racing in 2019. “Switzerland’s Marcel Hug, multiple-time world record holder, gave me one of his used chairs there. I bought it for Rs. 3.5 lakh,” says the 34-year-old. From his savings as a freelance designer and the major support of a sponsor, Anil recently bought a new wheelchair from the U.S. at a cost of around Rs. 9.5 lakh.

“There isn’t even a single part available for these wheelchairs. Maybe that’s why people in India don’t want to get into this. We had so many hard-working people who left due to lack of funding. I am still pursuing it because for me, it is like an escape from all the hardships I have faced in life,” he says.

Meanwhile, in track events in para athletics the use of prosthetic limbs is a fairly common sight, but for Indian athletes, getting to that starting line is not easy. Pranav Desai, born with a premature right leg, was using a prosthesis from a German brand. The same company organised a running camp in Mumbai in 2015, where Desai first learnt about blades. “At that camp, German sprinter Heinrich Popow, London Paralympics gold medallist in the 100m T42, taught us how to use blades. We also got one piece free from that running clinic,” says the 25-year-old.

When that blade became soft after considerable use, his father, an insurance agent, had to take a loan to buy a new one, as a piece cost around Rs. 4.5 lakh.

In such a scenario, he could not afford to have more than one blade even when travelling for competitions, and if it malfunctioned, there was no scope for replacement. “When I travel with a blade, I have trained on it for a longer time. So, we hope that nothing happens to the blade. But at the World Junior Championships in 2019 in Dubai, the nut and bolt of the blade, which connects to the socket, got loose and it started to move a little from the socket. I couldn’t do anything since it was a major issue,” he says.

Since last year, Desai has been a beneficiary of the Khelo India scheme, receiving support from organisations such as GoSports Foundation and AMM Foundation with regards to his training, equipment and other needs.

Impact of both kinds

World Para Athletics revisited classification and introduced new categories after bringing in a new formula in 2018, which significantly reduced the maximum allowable standing height for double-leg amputees.

It affected athletes such as Shalini Saraswathi, who represented India in the women’s 100m T64 event at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games. “In 2019, I went to China but wasn’t allowed to compete since the blades I had were significantly taller and didn’t pass the new rules. I wasn’t allowed to race and had to come back to get the blades changed,” she says.

Government’s support

Twenty-seven sportspersons from para athletics are part of the TOPS Core Group. They receive INR 50,000 per month as out-of-pocket allowance, plus full funding for their training plans from the government as they prepare for major events such as the Asian Games and the Paralympic Games.

The number of parathletes receiving assistance under the Khelo India Scheme is around 40. These athletes get Rs. 10,000 per month as out-of-pocket allowance and further support through accredited Khelo India Centres with access to training facilities.

Scope for improvement

While the World Championships in New Delhi is a momentous occasion to showcase the country’s potential as the organiser of a major event, it also offers an opportunity for domestic brands to learn and adapt to the needs of Indian parathletes in terms of equipment manufacturing, by observing the gear used by athletes from around the world.

Published on Sep 25, 2025

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