23 August,2021 07:24 AM IST | Mumbai | Harit Joshi
India’s Mariyappan Thangavelu during the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Pic/AFP
Dreams do come true, says a beaming Mariyappan Thangavelu. The ace para high jumper has experienced it twice. Once a newspaper delivery boy in Tamil Nadu's Salem district, Mariyappan wished to see articles on him in those newspapers. He deserved all that column space.
Later, he won gold in the T42 category high jump during his maiden Paralympics - Rio 2016 - where he leapt 1.89 metres.
At the Rio Paralympics opening ceremony itself Mariyappan dreamt of being the flag bearer for the next Paralympics. That dream too will come true with the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) choosing the Tamil Nadu lad to do the honours in Tokyo. Mariyappan, 26, can't wait for Tuesday when he will hold the Indian flag to lead the Indian contingent of 54 athletes at the opening ceremony.
"I am super-excited to carry India's flag at the opening ceremony. I had wished to be the flag bearer at the Olympics and here I am thrilled to be given the honours," Mariyappan tells mid-day from the Games' Village on Saturday.
R Satyanarayana
His coach R Satyanarayana, who spotted Mariyappan at the 2013 para Nationals, requested the PCI to pick his ward as the flagbearer for extra motivation and additional responsibility. Since his ankle surgery in 2018, Mariyappan has been low on confidence due to the long layoff, informs his coach.
"In 2016, post the Rio Paralympics, Mariyappan's year was full of felicitations and celebrations. When he started preparing for the World Championship in the next year, he injured his ankle while training. We tried to avoid surgery, but it was inevitable.
"For three to four months, I cut him off from everyone [after the surgery]. I took away his phone too, so that he was disconnected from social media. I didn't want any negativity to creep in," explains Satyanarayana, who represented India in 1500m events.
Such was Mariyappan's situation that he was in danger of not qualifying for Tokyo during the trials in New Delhi earlier this year.However, an incentive of a high-end mobile phone as a gift from his coach did the trick. "Sir promised me to gift me an iPhone Pro12 Max if I qualified for Tokyo. I gave my everything and managed to do it," says Mariyappan, who has a stunted right leg after a bus ran over it when he was just five, leaving him permanently disabled.
Satyanarayana felt a boost was required. "As I said, he was low on confidence after the surgery. Although he has completely recovered now, mentally it takes time to get over it. I wanted him to just go all out and use his full potential. I am glad the trick worked," the coach says.
A luxury car will be Mariyappan's if he wins his second consecutive gold at Tokyo. "Sir has already booked it for me. I am confident of getting it [the car] because I have prepared well. I am not viewing this as pressure, but as an added motivation because I know I have the ability to do it again [win gold]. Nobody knew about me when I went to Rio. Now, everyone is aware of me. That itself is huge motivation for me to do well," says Mariyappan. Coach Satyanarayana is confident too: "I have faith in his ability. He has worked very hard. And if my incentives are motivating him further, then why not do it? I saved some money that I got as a reward in 2016, thanks to Mariyappan so I am utilising that money now to push him further. I am very well looked after by my employers [Railways]."
Only six officials from the Indian contingent are allowed to take part in the opening ceremony of Tokyo Paralympics on Tuesday, chef de mission Gursharan Singh said on Sunday. India will thus have 11 members participating in the opening ceremony, the remaining five being athletes.
