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It was a proud moment for India as Ankur Dhama won his second gold medal at the Asian Para Games 2023. He came first in the men's 1500m T11 final in Hangzhou on Wednesday, October 25.
Dhama stood tall amongst his competitors and ensured that the others fell by the wayside even as he managed to bag gold. He clocked 4:27:20 in the event. Dhama had won gold in the men's 5000m T11 final earlier this week, clocking 16:37:29 on Monday.
The silver medal went to Krygyzstan's Abduvalie with the timings of 17:18.74 minutes. Interestingly, this event did not have a bronze medal, with Li Chun Fi of Hong Kong getting the last spot with timings of 18:41.40 minutes.
On Wednesday, Dhama made India proud with another stellar showing and pushed until the very last moment to gain an advantage over his closest opponent, who seemed to be pushing the pain barrier.
However, Dhama found an ounce of energy at the last moment and crossed the finishing line just mili seconds ahead of his competitor.
You can watch the moment below:
Ankur Dhama is an Arjuna awardee
Dhama had created history by being the first totally blind para-athlete (B1) to represent India in the Rio Paralympics in 2016. This was a monumental achievement on his part and was duly recognized by his nation, immensely proud of his showing.
The athlete was also accorded the Arjuna Award, the second-most prestigious award given to sportspersons in India in 2018 by then-president Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
Dhama is an alumnus of the JPM Senior Secondary School in Delhi and was nurtured by the ISBA from the time he was in school. Born in a small village in Uttar Pradesh, Dhama is reportedly also a coach with the Sports Authority of India.
