India's Deepa Malik bagged a silver medal in the women's shotput F53 event at the 2016 Rio Paralympics Games, clinching the silver with a personal best throw of 4.61 metres here on Monday.
Fatema Nedham of Bahrain won the gold medal with a throw of 4.76m while Dimitra Korokida of Greece bagged the bronze with an attempt of 4.28m which was her best effort this season.
After bagging the silver, an excited Deepa said she wants to use the medal to support women with disabilities in India. The 45-year-old, who is the oldest in the Indian contingent in Rio to win a medal, called it a "proud moment" for her and the family. "I want to use this medal to support women with disabilities in India. This journey has been wonderful for me and my entire family, I am proud to be the oldest athlete in the team and win a medal," Deepa told IANS.
Deepa has thus confirmed India's third medal from the Paralympic Games. India's tally at this edition of the Paralympics now stands at one gold, one silver and a bronze.
Mariyappan Thangavelu had won gold in the Men's High Jump T42 category on Friday with fellow Indian Varun Bhati taking bronze in the same event.
Deepa also became the first Indian female medallist in the history of the Paralympic Games. India, who made their Paralympic Games debut in 1968, have bagged an overall total of 11 medals including three gold, four silver and an equal number of bronze medals.
Deepa received the Arjuna award in 2012. The 45-year-old registered her name twice in the limca Book of Records, once for crossing a 1 km stretch of the Yamuna river against the current in 2008, and then again for covering 58 km by riding a special bike in 2013.
Meanwhile, Malik’s path to glory has not been straight forward as she had to overcome a lot of hardships to be here.
Deepa is a paraplegic, paralysed from waist down and mother of two and wife of an Army officer. life took a twist when a spinal tumour made walking impossible for her 17 years ago.
The spinal tumour had to be operated and 31 surgeries were conducted on Deepa which was healed after 183 stitches between her waist and legs.
Besides shotput, Deepa has participated in javelin throw, swimming and has also been a motivational speaker. She has also won medals in swimming at international competitions. She holds the Asian record in javelin throw, and also has World Championships silver medals in shot put and discus in 2011.
Dhama crashes out
India's Ankur Dhama crashed out of the first round of the men's 1500 metre T1 event despite finishing second in his heat at the Paralympic Games here on Sunday.
Dhama clocked a time of four minutes and 37.61 seconds in Heat 1, a couple of seconds ahead of Raxon Oscar (4:57.22) of Guatemala. But his timing was not good enough to ensure a spot in the semi-finals.