New Delhi: Defying all the odds at the grand stage, India’s Simran Sharma ran her way to a bronze medal in the women’s 200m T12 final at the Paris Paralympics 2024 on Saturday. She delivered India their 28th medal at the marquee para event, which was the 13th bronze for the nation. The para-sprinter lived up to the expectations of the countrymen and bagged a podium finish at the Stade de France, after missing it by a whisker in the 100m event.
Simran, a visually impaired reigning world champion, got a third-place finish with a personal best time of 24.75 seconds, but little does the world know about the journey she took – full of obstacles right from the day when she was born. She was bettered by Cuba’s Omara Durand Elias who claimed a gold with 23.62 time stamp while Paola Alejandra Perez Lopez of Venezuela bagged silver with an effort of 24.19.
While the battle for the gold remained between Omara and Paola, Simran found her competitor for bronze in Iran’s Hajar Safarzadeh, who had a better reaction time than the Indian sprinter. However, Simran gave it her all in the final stretch and crossed the finishing line before Hajar (24.91 seconds). In the 100m event that she took part in two nights ago, she finished fourth, missing the medal by a whisker, clocking 12.31.
After the disappointment in the 100m competition, the 24-year-old was offered a chance at redemption in the 200m event, where too she was helped by her guide Abhay Singh as she went all out to receive a podium finish. It was the first medal for India which saw disappointments in swimming, canoeing and road cycling on Saturday. Simran’s path to the 200m final event came on the back of 25.03s in the semifinal race after topping her heat with a time of 25.41s.
Who is Simran Sharma?
Simran Sharma was born on November 9, 1999, in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. Her birth was premature and she spent the next 10 weeks in an incubator where it was discovered that she was visually impaired. She faced numerous hurdles throughout her life, including her father’s chronic illness which eventually led to his death.
She is coached by her husband Naik Gajendra Singh, who is posted at New Delhi’s 227 company of the Army Service Corps and trains at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi. The couple married on 17 November 2023. Simran competes in the T12 classification in the Paralympics which is for athletes with visual impairments.
She became a World Champion this year in Kobe, Japan but her breakthrough arrived at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championship where she competed despite the fear of losing her father. She eventually lost him shortly after returning from the event but channeled her inner grief well, and honored his memory with beaming motivation and determination via her achievements.
Since 2022, she has been doing exceptionally well in national and international events. She has had plenty of success in in the National Championship and the Indian Open in both 100m and 200m events.
Achievements
Her first notable achievement(s) came in the 2022 Hangzhou Para Games where she claimed two silver medals (100m, 200m). She also secured three gold in the 100m, 200m, and long jump at the inaugural Khelo India Para Games last December. Then she bagged a gold medal in the 200m event at the 2024 World Championships in Kobe. Courtesy of her consistency, she was included in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) of the Indian government.
Her medal tally now has an elite addition of a Paralympic bronze as well.
Simran Sharma gave India a 28th medal in the form of a bronze at the Paris Paralympics 2024 as she finished third in the women’s 200m T12 final event on Saturday. Here’s everything you need to know about the para-sprinter! Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
