Devendra Jhajharia

Devendra Jhajharia (born 10 June 1981) is an Indian Paralympic javelin thrower competing in F46 events. He is the first Indian Paralympics player to win two gold medals at the Paralympics. He won his first gold in the javelin throw at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, becoming the second gold medalist at the Paralympics for his country.^[1] At the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won a second gold medal in the same event, bettering his previous record.^[2] Devendra is currently being supported by the Olympic Gold Quest.^[3] He becomes India's most decorated Paralympic player by winning his third medal, a silver at the 2020 Summer Paralympics at Tokyo.

Devendra Jhajharia

Devendra Jhajharia with his gold medal from the 2016 Summer Paralympics
Personal information
Nationality	Indian
Born	(1981-06-10) 10 June 1981 (age 42)
Sport
Country	India
Sport	Athletics
Event	F46 Javelin
Coached by	Sunil Tanwar
Achievements and titles
Paralympic finals	2004 2016 2020
Medal record Track and field (athletics) Representing  India Paralympic Games 2004 Athens Javelin - F44/46 2016 Rio Javelin - F46 2020 Tokyo Javelin - F46 IPC World Championships 2013 Lyon Javelin - F46 2015 Doha Javelin - F46 Asian Para Games 2014 Incheon Javelin - F46

Early life and background

Jhajharia was born in 1981 and hails from the Churu District in Rajasthan. At the age of eight, climbing a tree he touched a live electric cable. He received medical attention but the doctors were forced to amputate his left hand.^[4][5] In 1997 he was spotted by Dronacharya Awardee coach R. D. Singh while competing at a school sports day, and from that point was coached by Singh. He gave credit to his personal coach R. D. Singh for 2004 Paralympic Gold Medal, saying: "He gives me a lot of advice and helps me during training."^[6][7]

He has been coached by Sunil Tanwar since 2015.^[8]

Career

In 2002 Jhajharia won the gold medal in the 8th FESPIC Games in South Korea. In 2004 Jhajharia qualified for his first Summer Paralaympic Games representing India at Athens. At the games he set a new world record with a distance of 62.15m eclipsing the old one of 59.77m. The throw gave him the gold medal and he became only the second gold medalist at the Paralympics for his country (India's first gold medal came from Murlikant Petkar).^[9]

Further athletic success came in 2013 at the IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France when he took the gold medal in the F46 javelin throw. He followed this with a silver medal at the 2014 Asian Para Games at Incheon in South Korea. At the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, despite throwing 59.06, Jhajharia could only finish in second place, claiming silver behind China's Guo Chunliang, who threw a championship record distance.

In 2016, he won a gold medal at the 2016 IPC Athletics Asia-Oceania Championship in Dubai. At the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won the gold medal in the men's javelin throw F46 event, bettering his own 2004 record with a world-record throw of 63.97 metres.^[2]

On 30 August 2021, Jhajharia won silver medal in the men's javelin throw F46 event at Tokyo Paralympics 2020^[10] along with Sundar Singh Gurjar (bronze medal at the same event).

Personal life

A former Indian Railways employee, Jhajharia is currently employed with the Rajasthan Forest Department. His wife, Manju, is a former nationally ranked kabaddi player; the couple has two children, Jiya and Kavyan.^[11][12]

Devendra Jhajharia was brought up by Jevani Devi and Ram Singh Jhajharia ^[13]

Awards and recognition

• Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna (2017)
• FICCI Para-Sportsperson of the Year (2014)^[14]
• Padma Shri (2012; first Paralympian to be so honoured).^[15]
• Arjuna Award (2004)
• Padma Bhushan (2022)^[16]

See also

• India at the Paralympics

References

1. "Paralympics 2016 | Devendra Jhajharia breaks World Record to win Gold at Paralympics". Sportscafe. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
2. "Paralympics: Javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia wins gold by breaking world record". The New Indian Express. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
3. "Para Athletics | OGQ". www.olympicgoldquest.in. from the original on 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
4. "Devendra". infostradasports.com. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
5. Sharma, Sandipan (9 March 2005). "At awards night, Govt ignores Paralympic gold winner". indianexpress.com. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
6. Basu, Suromitro (29 October 2015). "Indian Javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia wins silver medal at IPC Para-athletics meet". sportskeeda. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
7. Karhadkar, Amol (10 April 2016). "Meet Devendra Jhajharia, the javelin genius". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
8. Shalya, Mandakini (21 August 2021). "At 40, Devendra Jhajharia eyes record third gold in Tokyo". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
9. Shrikant, B (22 August 2012). . hindustantimes.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
10. "Tokyo Paralympics Live Updates: Devendra Jhajharia secure silver medal". SportsTiger. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
11. "Dad I topped, now it's your turn: Daughter told Jhajharia". The Times of India. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
12. "Tokyo Paralympics: Devendra Jhajharia wins silver, Sundar Singh Gurjar wins bronze in men's javelin throw event". The Hindu Times. 30 August 2021.
13. "Parents". Kreedon. 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
14. "FICCI announces the Winners of India Sports Awards for 2014". IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
15. (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
16. "Padma Awards 2022: Complete list of recipients". mint. 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.

External links

• Devendra Jhajharia on Twitter
• https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/paralympics/news/amp/india-s-devendra-jhajharia-goes-for-historic-third-gold-in-javelin-at-tokyo-2020 30 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine