Commonwealth Games 2018: Indian para-athlete Sakina Khatun awarded conditional slot after suicide threat

What's the story?

Sakina Khatun, India's only para-athlete to win a medal in Commonwealth Games has finally been awarded a conditional slot for CWG 2018 which will be held on Gold Coast in Australia. She had repeatedly sent letters to the authorities for considering her application to take part in CWG 2018 since she was left out of the Indian contingent for the mega event. Khatun is a top Indian para-athlete in powerlifting and this came as a surprise since she had met the eligibility criteria.

In case you didn't know...

Khatun managed to bag a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the women's 61kg powerlifting category despite herself weighing only 40kg. She also won a silver medal in the Para-powerlifting World Cup in Dubai in the 45kg weight category. She was among the 10 women achievers in the BREW awards organised by The Brew Magazine in Chennai, on the occasion of the International Women's Day.

The heart of the matter

An investigation revealed that Khatun's name was never sent to the Commonwealth Games organisers. This happened despite the fact that India had 3 slots per gender available in the para powerlifting events. However, the authorities did not utilize all of them.

She threatened to commit suicide in front of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) office if her name was not considered for the games. She had also written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting his intervention in the same.

What's next?

Paralympic Committee of India will help Khatun undergo a medical and all the necessary documents will be sent to IOA by February 28.

Author's take

Khatun is one of the greatest para-athletes in India and she proved her mettle against the able-bodied in the last edition of the Commonwealth Games. It's a great news that she has been given a chance to repeat her feat from the last CWG.