Paris 2024: Landmine blast survivor Narayana Konganapalle combines with Anita to secure Paralympic quota in rowing

From the jaws of death, trapped in a landmine blast while serving the Indian Army in Jammu and Kashmir, which left him with an amputated left leg (below the knee), Narayana Konganapalle secured the 2024 Paris Paralympics quota in the mixed double sculls event at the World Rowing Asian and Oceanian Olympic and Paralympic Qualification 2024.

Narayana, along with Anita, clocked 7:50.80 to finish first in the Asian qualifying championship in South Korea on Sunday to make the cut for the Paris edition later this year.

For the record, India’s ace single sculler Balraj Panwar made it to the Paris Olympics, finishing third with a timing of 7:01.27.

“Ever since I started rowing six years ago, I had always that inkling of how it would be to make it to the Paralympics despite the physical challenges I had to face. For some reason, I always felt that I should do something special,” Havaldar Narayana told  Sportstar on Monday on his way back home from South Korea.

“This urge was intense, especially since I was a lucky survivor in the 2018 blast, just a week before my two-year stint in J & K was to end. I was second in the line of attack, one colleague who was ahead was unfortunately killed, and five others were there behind,” said a visibly sombre Narayana.

“I owe everything to the Army authorities, especially to Col. Gaurav Datta, for introducing me to Para Games in 2016. Initially, I was into athletics (javelin) for two years before taking up rowing, and my first international medal in the 2019 Poland championship gave me a lot of confidence and made me reset my goals,” said the soft-spoken Telugu-speaking rower from Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh.

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Narayana also won bronze medals in the 2019 World Rowing Cup and the Asian Championship.

Now, our focus is to win a medal in the Paralympics, said Narayana.
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Forced to quit sports after dabbling in kabaddi and football to take care of his family’s needs, Narayana joined the Army, and that proved to be a huge turning point in sustaining his interest in sports.

“Moving to Pune to get an artificial limb fixed in 2018 was another decisive moment in my career. Thanks to great support from everyone in the Army, I won a gold in the 2021 Hong Kong Indoor rowing meet, a bronze in the 2022 World Cup and then partnered with Anita for the first time to bag a silver in the mixed doubles 2023 Para Asian Games,” he recalled.

“Luckily, we trained in China for a month before going to South Korea for the Paralympics qualification, where we topped the table to clinch the only berth available for the Paris Games,” Narayana said.

Reflecting on the journey so far, the spirited rower turned poignant as there was little support from the State Government despite winning so many international medals and besides the Army support, he had to spend from his pocket too.

“Now, our focus is to win a medal in the Paralympics and with RFI (headed by Hyderabad-based Rajalaxmi Singh Deo) planning to have a preparatory camp, we are optimistic of coming back with one,” signed off the father of two daughters and a son.