Nishad Kumar has leapt into history! The 27-year-old became only the third Indian to win two golds at a single Asian Para Games edition in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. After winning the men’s long jump in T47 classification — for athletes with upper limb impairments — with a 7.11m effort on Monday, he cleared a Games-record 2.04m in high jump T47 on Tuesday, joining Ankur Dhama and Sheetal Devi in the elite club. And what’s the secret behind his success? Visualisation, says Nishad, who was seen urging spectators to cheer louder before competing. “When I train, I imagine that 1 lakh people are in attendance cheering for me to hype my adrenaline. Visualisation has helped me not get distracted and has made me mentally tough. That toughness is the biggest cause behind my success.”
But even as Nishad celebrates his historic double gold, sporting glory doesn’t always bring the recognition it deserves. With fans on social media questioning the limited television coverage of the Asian Para Games compared to the recently concluded Asian Games, Nishad says he has learnt to look beyond the attention: “When you are standing on that podium, looking at the Tiranga waving high, nothing matters anymore! You do not care who is talking about you and who is not. All you think about is that you have achieved what you wanted to.”
But he admits that the lack of recognition for para-athletes once affected him deeply. “It used to hurt me, bother me, that why do we still have to fight for attention and recognition even though we are winning a huge number of medals for India; be it at the Paralympics, Asian Para Games or more. It does nothing but affect your mental health, and that affects my game. So now I focus on myself. What is not in my control should be taken care of by the administration and concerned authorities. I have stopped thinking about it.”
