“When I grew up, everyone in my village would say,” She’s blind, she’s a waste, “says Rakshith Raju. Now, at the age of 24, she is one of the world’s first -time athletes.” That makes me So proud, “she says.
Rakshith was born blind in a remote village in southern India, and both parents lost until the age of 10. She was raised by her grandmother who heard and damaged speech.
“We are both disabled, so my grandmother understood me,” she says.
When Rakshith was about 13, a sport teacher at her school took her aside and told her she had the potential to be a great athlete.
“I wondered, ‘How? I’m blind, so how to run on a track I can’t see?” “He recalls.
Her teacher explained that runners with visual impairment can have a guide running beside them. The athletes are joined by a pendant – a short strap with a loop at both ends for each of them.
For a while, other students acted as guides for Rakshith. Then in 2016, when she was 15, she competed in national games, where she was noticed by a man called Rahul Balakrishna.
Rahul, a medium -distance runner, competed earlier at the very 1500m. He was introduced to the Paratic athletics by a coach at the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) several years earlier, while recovering from an injury.
He is a shortage of a guide and a coach, and Rahul has decided to take on both roles. The government pays him a salary for the coaching side of his work, but he does not pay the runners of runners.
However, if a vision runner wins an international competition, their guide also gets a medal – something Rahul has not achieved in his own career. “I felt proud to be able to do it for myself and my country,” he says.
He invested his time and money to support Rakshithi, helping her move to Bangalore 2018 so that she could have access to better training facilities.
When they run “these are small things that are important,” Rahul says. “When the curves approach, the guide must warn the athlete or when the competitor crosses, he must say to the athlete so that they can make a little more effort.”
Competition rules mean that they cannot be kept by the hands – they can only connect them, and the guide guide is not allowed to push, pull, or otherwise start athlete with visual impairment.
Over time, the couple built a strong relationship and now “I believe in my guide more than me,” Rakshith says.
They won gold medals at the Asian Games in 2018 and 2023, returning to the echo welcome in the village of Rakshith. She smiled as she describes how the people who used to make fun of her organized a procession for her, cheering and waving flags.
Rakshith became the first blind Indian to qualify for 1500 m in the Paralympics, and she competed with Rahul in Paris in 2024.
They missed the medal in France, but the only Indian other athlete with visual impairment, to qualify for Paris, Sprinter Simran Sharma, arrived at the podium, bringing home bronze.
Simran is partially visible and when she started running, she ran alone.
But in 2021, when Simran competed on the Paralympics of Tokyo, she strayed out of the strap and realized that she would need a guide if she wanted to run.
But the search has proven to be challenging. “It can’t be an athlete. You need someone whose technique matches your and who runs as fast as you are,” she explains.
Simran finally noticed a young athlete called Abhay Kumar, who trained in the same place as she did. The 18-year-old was between the competition and the guidance of Simrana was an opportunity to gain experience at international events.
“They sent me videos and after watching them, I thought,” I’m a fast student, this will be easy, “he says.” But when I first ran, it turned out to be very difficult. be synchronized.
Simran and Abhay did not have time to exercise together long before their first international competition – the World Cup in Athletics 2024. In Japan – just weeks after they met.
Their first race, 100m, ended with a disaster.
“None of us knew the rules properly,” Simran says. Abhay “thought he had to stop shifting me first, so he stopped completely.” They were disqualified because he needed to continue and cross the line just behind her.
But when they arrived at the 200 -meter race, they knew what they were doing and hit gold. Simran became a world champion in the T12 category.
Driving on that high, they went to the Paralympics in Paris. They came fourth at 100 m, but they won bronze in the 200m race, and Simran became the first Indian with Vid Damage to win the Paralympic Medal.
But Simran is worried about how much Abhay will remain like her guide. He also has his career to think about.
Although the guides get a medal when a couple wins, India Paralympic Committee (PCI) says he cannot support wage guides, cash prizes or offer a long -term career path.
“All we can do is support short-term needs such as their food, accommodation, transportation and training,” says the national coach of PCI athletics, Mr. Satyanarayana, who goes one name.
Both Rakshith and Simran now have sponsorship contracts that help finance their training. They pay for their own guides themselves and give them a stake in any prize money they win. But Rahul and Abhay would like to support the state greater and want them to allow them to apply for public sector jobs reserved for athletes and women – such as athletes they work with.
Despite the uncertainty about his future with Abhay, Simran is already looking at the next Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. “I will not rest until I change the color of this medal,” she says, hoping to win gold next time.
Rakshith hopes and medals next time, and Rahul is with him. “He has to win a medal,” he says. “It’s a lot like her in the villages. They don’t know about sports and opportunities. Rakshith would be their role model.”
The BBC Indian SportSwormsworms of the year (ISWOTY) returns with its fifth edition to celebrate and honor the extraordinary achievements of athletes in India. Find out more about nominated – The winner will be declared on February 17th.
