Paralympian Deepa Malik Focusses On Mentoring Other Athletes

Paralympian Deepa Malik has worked hard to make winning against odds a way of life for her. She won the silver medal for shot put at the Rio Paralympics, becoming the first Indian woman to do so. Prime minister Narendra Modi presented the athlete from Haryana with a Rs 4 crore cheque earlier this week.

And the gutsy lady who is also a biker, swimmer and entrepreneur, is also busy grooming new Paralympians, as Indiatimes reported. What could really be more priceless for anyone than imparting your own knowledge to others?

The efforts of Deepa, an Arjuna awardee, were also recognised at the recent Women Transforming India awards. Receiving the award on her behalf, Deepa's proud father, Infantry Colonel BK Nagpal, told SheThePeople.TV, ”I am very proud of my daughter. Her attitude towards life kept her going. Once she said to me that ‘like you wear glasses, I wear my wheelchair. There is no difference between the two.’”

A firm believer of ‘Sports Can Empower Women’, Deepa is also encouraging other disabled women like her. Shweta Sharma (bottom pic) is one emerging star amongst them, who won national medals within six-months of training and guidance from Deepa.

Shweta Sharma

Deepa sees a real spark and ‘challenging streak’ in Shweta, which anyone needs in order to bring medals home. Shweta, who is polio afflicted, has fought several hurdles in her life which includes a broken marriage and poverty. A single mother of two kids, Shweta will surely be a new challenging contender from India in the next Paralympics, assures Deepa.

Due to lack of funds for training, Shweta was finding it difficult to groom herself for the Paralympics. Deepa helped Shweta in getting her category certification from abroad, providing some necessary sports equipment and a bit of coaching.

Image Credit : Quint and Rediff.