Paralympics 2024: Don’t treat us differently
Asked what was wrong, Kathuniya said, “I am not happy. If I tell you that I was regularly throwing 47-48m in practice, you will think I am lying. But that’s the truth and I should have done much better here. I am not happy with my effort. I did not win the silver here; I lost the gold.”
“You just don’t want people to come and say ‘arre kya hua hai, silver toh aaya (what happened, you got silver)’. Silver aane ke liye yahan nahi aaye the, gold jitne ke liye aaye the (I didn’t come here to win silver, I came to win gold).” His disappointment was palpable. It was interesting to see someone not celebrating a silver medal.
“When people say that a silver medal is good enough, it’s assumed that it was the best I could do. There is a degree of sympathy that for someone with a disability, it’s enough to win a medal,” said Kathuniya. “I want to change that. I want people to criticise me and say I did not play to my potential. Just like you would criticise able-bodied athletes for not doing their best, please do the same for me. Don’t make me feel that I am different… because of my disability.”
Suhas Yathiraj, who also won a silver medal in the men’s singles SL4 badminton, echoed similar views. “You don’t win a silver. You lose a gold. I did not play well and that’s the truth. I apologise to everyone back home because I let them down,” he said.
He added, “Look at Sheetal [Devi], Manisha [Ramadass], and other young athletes. This is the India of our dreams. The problem is that we are far too protective of our children. We
