Indian Army Soldiers Turn to Sports After Injuries, Win Medals at Asian Para Games

NEW DELHI: Landmines along the Line of Control (LoC) shattered the limbs of three of them, while the brutal Kargil cold claimed a fourth's leg. Undeterred, six soldiers from the Indian Army have rebuilt their lives through sport, returning from the Asian Para Games in Japan with a gold, an Asian record and a podium sweep among their haul. Army chief Gen Dhiraj Seth on Thursday felicitated the six soldier-athletes, who won one gold, two silver and three bronze at Aichi-Nagoya last month. The medals, the Army said in a statement, reflect its "sustained efforts towards rehabilitation and sporting excellence among injured soldiers". Four of the six are repeat medallists at the Asian, world or Paralympic level. The standout was Subedar Solairaj D of 21 Madras, whose left leg had to be amputated below the knee in 2018 after the extreme cold in Batalik choked its blood supply. The soldier from Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi retained his long jump title with a 7.15m leap, breaking the Asian record for the third time in three years. Then there is Subedar H Hokato Sema of 9 Assam, who had served barely 16 months when a mine blast at Chowkibal cost him his left leg below the knee in 2002. Twenty-four years on, the Naga soldier won shot put bronze, his third at successive Games after Hangzhou (2023) and Paris (2024), where he became Nagaland's first Paralympic medallist. Subedar Ajay Kumar of 12 Dogra, whose father Chunni Lal also served in the regiment, lost his left leg below the knee to a mine in Uri in 2017. The Hangzhou silver medallist from Himachal's Mandi won the 400m bronze. Devender Kumar led an all-Indian discus podium, with two soldiers behind him. Havildar Pardeep Kumar of 16 Rajputana Rifles, who lost part of his left foot to a mine at Sunderbani in 2019 and won bronze at last year's world championships, added another bronze despite a personal-best 51.15m, the longest throw on the podium, as the combined-class event is decided on points.