Amit Kumar Saroha is a Paralympian, Arjuna Awardee and an Asian Para Games medalist. He competes in the F51 category in the Discus throw and Club throw. Amit is one of India's supreme Para-athletes and the first quadriplegic to represent India at a Paralympic Games which was held in London, 2012.
He has already secured his qualification for the upcoming Rio Paralympics and spoke to us about the life of a differently-abled athlete. Amit has also lived with Sushil Kumar and told us some interesting stories about Sushil and his other Para-athletes.
He trains at the GoSports Foundation in Bangalore who have recently collaborated with IndusInd Bank and help athletes like him train at the elite level.
You were a national level hockey player before. Then you met with a fatal accident. What made you not give up on sports?
Look, when I met with the accident I was taken to a hospital. There, most of the people were there due to spinal cord injuries. So I never felt that I was different. The entire hospital has been designed for wheelchair users. But I was sure that I needed something as a back up in my life.
Normal people go to the office in the morning and come back in the evening. This wasn’t having fun for me. Then it clicked that I need to do something different.
How did you adapt and transform on your technique in discuss and club throw?
When you’re wheelchair bound, almost everything changes. If you have a spinal cord injury like me, my hands don’t work well too. So I have specifically imported a special cone and stick it to the discuss and club. It’s very technical. You can only learn all of this through experience in competitions.
Our coaches are great but Para sports in India hadn’t fully developed till recently. This was the reason the coaches didn’t have a lot of knowledge on Para sports. Now it’s changed for the better. Some of the athletes have become coaches. So it’s definitely improving.
So do a lot of people know about the Paralympics?
Last time around, we won only a single medal at the Paralympics. This time, our objective is to win 5-7 medals at the games. Awareness has to be created. This can only be done by the media. Try and cut your nail completely. Let me know the feeling. We live that kind of life and simultaneously train as well.
So you can see the difference. I know when I wake up at 4 am to train, the challenges I face. After four hours of training, I need to place a pillow always below my hand when I am sleeping. So that the pain reduces and I can sleep.
You need to put in a lot of effort for the medal. You should try and live for a week with athletes like us. You’ll find out how we sleep at night. Devendra (Para javelin thrower) will have a pillow below his hand, below his back. A sport is anyways tough for general people. It’s tougher for the Para-athletes.
Who do reckon are your main competitors at the Paralympics?
Look, my main competitors are from Siberia and Czech Republic. But I will arrive (in Rio) completely prepared. From my side, I will give it my all. The support staff and the Government have supported us a lot. I hope the results will be positive.
Is it true Yogeshwar Dutt and Sushil Kumar were your mates at the All India sports camps?
Yes. Both of them are extremely down to earth. If you meet them in person, you’ll never realise that they’re such famous and successful athletes. They are extremely disciplined. Sushil hasn’t seen a cinema hall in his life.
He may have seen just two films in his life. I think he has watched Mary Kom. But he has decided he will not be distracted by all of this since it could disturb his training. He is very sincere in his objectives.
So even if he arrives from a flight at 12 am, at 6 am sharp he is already on the training ground. This is his dedication towards the sport. That’s why he is at this level today.
What’s your training schedule like?
It depends, if you’re in the offseason or at times you have to do heavy training. We have discussions with the coaches and it keeps changing every 10-15 days. We keep experimenting on the angles from which I can throw the discuss/club.
We make videos on this and take the Physiotherapists help too. So it’s completely technical and scientific in nature. When the competition approaches closer, rather than heavy training we work on speed work.
