New Delhi: The Telangana government on Saturday, September 07 felicitated Paris Paralympics 2024 bronze medallist Deepthi Jeevanji. Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy also announced multiple rewards for the bronze medallist. Deepthi claimed a bronze medal for India in the women’s 400m T20 event with a timing of 55.82 seconds.
While lauding her for her stellar effort at the Games and acknowledging her inspiring journey, the Telangana CM announced a cash prize of Rs 1 crore and a plot of 4500 square feet in Warangal for Jeevanji. He also confirmed that she will be awarded a Group-2 level government job for her achievement.
Deepthi won the bronze medal in the women’s 400m T20 final on September 03. She started well in the final race with a reaction time of 0.164 seconds but couldn’t grab the top spot on the podium. The Indian finished behind Ukraine’s Yulia Shuliar and Turkey’s Aysel Onder, who won the gold and the silver medals respectively.
Deepthi became the first Indian to win a medal in the women’s 400m event at the Paralympics and the second Indian woman after Preethi Pal to win a medal in track and field at the Games. Deepthi, who was diagnosed with intellectual impairment at a young age, competed in the T20 category which is meant for para-athletes with intellectual impairment.
Deepthi Jeevanji’s inspiring journey
Deepthi’s journey to becoming a Paralympics medallist for India has been nothing short of inspiring. Due to being born with intellectual disability, Deepthi used to get mocked by her own relatives and the people of her village Kalleda in Warangal, Telangana.
Her parents once revealed that Deepthi was often referred to as pichi (mental) and kothi (monkey) by her relatives, who also told her parents to send her to an orphanage. However, he parents stood by her and provided her with the mental support which saw their daughter won laurels for the country at the highest level.
Apart from winning a bronze medal at the Paralympics, Deepthi has also won gold medals at the World Championships (2024) and the Asian Para Games (2022).
The Telanagana government on Saturday announced multiple rewards for Paris Paralympics bronze medallist Deepthi Jeevanji. The Telangana government will give her a cash reward of Rs 1 crore and a plot in Warangal. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
