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Friday 16 September 2016

I Have Topped, Now Its Your Turn€™: Daughter Inspired Devendra For Paralympics Feat

#Paralympics2016
#Rio2016

Rio Paralympian and Javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia has revealed that a "deal" with his six-year-old daughter propelled him to win a record second gold medal in the Paralympics.

Jiya, who would accompany Jhajaria to training in Rajasthan, struck a deal with her father that if she topped in the lower kindergarten exam, he would have to win a gold in Paralympics. Jhajaria, the only Indian to win two gold medals in Paralympics, told PTI from Rio after winning the men's F46 javelin throw shared.

She proudly phoned me to announce that 'I've topped, now it's your turn', something that kept on echoing in my ear when I entered the field at the Olympic Stadium. She would be the happiest person. I will wait for her to wake up and speak to her," he said after breaking his own world record that he set in Athens in 2004.

Devendra, in fact, stayed awake whole night and kept talking to his family and well wishers till 5am in Rio. Thanking every Indian for their constant support he shared,

Ab kya sona, ab hamein kuchh nahin hoga. Hum to Rashtriya Dhwaj ke saath celebration karenge (I won't get sleep anymore. I will celebrate with national tricolour)

Devendra's world record throw of 63.97 metre came in his third attempt as it bettered his own mark of 62.15m that he had produced for his maiden gold at the Athens Paralympics in 2004. Till then, Murlikant Petkar was the only Indian with an individual gold in Paralympics, while shooter Abhinav Bindra won an individual gold in Beijing Olympics four years later. It was a long wait for the the 35-year-old, who did not feature in the previous two Paralympics with the event missing from the Games' schedule.

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Devendra falls under F46 classification, which denotes F for field events and the number 45-47 is for "upper limb(s) deficiency, impaired muscle power or impaired range of movement". 

Before the #Paralympics, he trained from April-July in Kuortane, Finland, where he became friends with Kenyan thrower Julius Yego, whom he calls one of his biggest motivators. He (Yego) would tell me his story of penury, of how he slept on a broken cot and how he learnt javelin throw by watching YouTube.  It was quite an inspiration. If he can achieve after so much of hardships, why can't I? We would train for about seven hours. He would tell me I would surely win a gold in Rio. He went on to win a silver. I will speak to him soon, as he has been a strong force behind my success, Devendra said.

Jhajharia further said his mother Jivani Devi and wife Manju, a former national level kabaddi player, played a big role in his success. Since my childhood days, my mother kept me focussed and told me you concentrate on your sport. The rest 'we will look after'. She would not even phone me thinking that I would get disturbed all these days. She has so far kept on fulfilling my need but never took anything in return. My wife, on the other hand, left kabaddi so that she can take care of the family as I mostly stayed away. My father ensured that I get the farm-fresh lentils and wheat even when I'm away. 

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