Padma Awards 2022: Devendra Jhajharia conferred with Padma Bhushan honor, Avani Lekhara among others receive Padma Shri

The veteran Indian para-javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia was conferred with the prestigious Padma Bhushan on Monday (March 21).

With this, the three-time Paralympic medalist became the first ever para athlete to receive the Padma Bhushan honor, the country’s third highest civilian award. Indian President Ram Nath Kovind presented him with the award at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

An ecstatic Jhajharia said:

"This is the first time a para athlete has got the Padma Bhushan, and I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this. Now I will have more responsibility towards the country, to win more medals for India."

He further added:

“To the youth, I will say work hard. One minute of work will not get you anything. I have worked hard for the past 20 years, 2002 was the first time I won a gold medal."

he 40-year-old’s career, which has spanned over two decades, has been a glorious one. Jhajharia is a three-time Paralympics medalist. He bagged his first Paralympic gold during the 2004 Athens Paralympics. His second gold medal came during the 2016 Rio Paralympics and he clinched a silver medal at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics.

He also went on to win a silver medal at the 2014 Incheon Asian Para Games.

Other Indian athletes who received Padma Awards:

Devendra Jhajharia was among the four Paralympic medalists to be conferred at the 2022 Padma Awards.

Tokyo Paralympics double medalist shooter Avani Lekhara received the Padma Shri for her incredible run last year.

She scripted her name in India's para-history when she bagged two medals in the same edition of the Paralympics. Avani won the gold medal in the R-2 Women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 and bagged a bronze medal in the women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1 final at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics.

Gold medal-winning javelin thrower Sumit Antil received the Padma Shri Award for his terrific performance at the 2021 Paralympics. He shattered his world record of 62.88m a staggering five times at the mega event.

Pramod Bhagat, who won a gold medal in Tokyo in the men’s singles SL3 class category, was honored with the Padma Shri Award. He created history by becoming the first Indian shuttler to win a gold medal in badminton at the Paralympics.