On Wednesday, India recorded its best day yet at Paralympics 2024, and the star athlete of the day happened to be Dharambir Nain, who fetched a gold in the Men’s Club Throw F51 class and won hearts all over. The joy of the gold medal Paralympics athlete gave to India only doubled with his compatriot Pranav Soorma cinching the silver. While Dharambir Nain’s throw made an Asian record of 34.92m, Pranav Soorma came close with an effort of 34.59m that brought him the silver.
For the uninitiated, Club Throw is a Paralympic event similar to the hammer throw at the Olympics. It is, however, not part of the Olympic programme. This Men’s Club Throw event was quite unnerving for Dharambir Nain, who had finished at the 8th place in the last Paralympics. His first four attempts were all fouls, and the fifth ended up with a record and a gold medal in Men’s Club Throw.
He later explained, "As quadriplegic athletes, we are not even able to hold the club, so we use a sticky gum in our fingers. Sometimes it is not in our control how it will release from the hand”.
These two medals in the Men’s Club Throw mean a lot to both Dharambir Nain-Pranav Soorma, as well as the India contingent. "When we left India we promised that we would come back with 25 medals, and these two medals have brought us very close - to 24. So they are the most crucial of the entire campaign," Dharambir said. We can’t wait to see what have up their sleeves next!