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Journalism of Courage
Watching sports live on television and directly in stadium are two different experiences. Delhi-based Meena Devi realized it when she sat in the stands of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to watch her son Yogesh Kathuniya throw discus during the World Para Athletics Championships.
“I was excited when I heard that Yogesh will play in New Delhi. I have never seen my son in a stadium live before. Earlier, it was always on the TV, he would come for few seconds, throw the discus and the next person comes in ,” Meena told The Indian Express. “On the TV, I couldn’t see what he would do after his throw but here I could see that, he was warming up and then coming towards his coach to talk about the previous throw.”
A proud mother was witnessing the fears, frazzles, falterings and finally the fierce determination of her son, before and after the glory moment, for the first time. It was a priceless experience for many such parents of para athletes, as India racked up its best-ever medal count reaching 20, their best ever count in the home Championship. On the medals table though, India dropped from 6th last time to 10th.
While Yogesh’s mother was excited to watch what goes around on the periphery of competition, India’s gold medallist in the men’s Javelin Throw F46 Category Rinku Hooda’s family needed some convincing to come and watch their son.
“My parents have never watched Rinku throwing a Javelin. Not even in training, leave alone the competitions,” his brother Anuj Hooda said. “My parents barely go out of the village given the daily chores at home. However, when the World Championships was announced, we started convincing them to come to Delhi.”
These are just two stories from the many families who visited the iconic JLN Stadium over the course of past nine days to see their son, daughter, grand children or spouse in action for the first time. While some won medals and others couldn’t, the emotion was the binding thread between both.
On September 29, Rinku Hooda took the field with a target of gold medal in the men’s Javelin F46 event where his first throw of 63.81m put him in the top position. While Rinku celebrated on his own, his family members and specially his father Rohtas Hooda shed a tear or two before wiping it off.
Amid the loud noise of dhols and claps, all he could mutter was, “Gaad diya jhanda.” (Staked claim for tricolour).
After Rinku claimed the gold medal, his brother Anuj said, “We all are emotional. It has been a long journey for Rinku and today it looks like all our hard work has paid off as a family.”
While Rinku’s family was emotional, Sumit Antil’s family turned JLN premise into an Indian wedding scene after the double Paralympic champion won another world title. The family members and friends would dance to the beats of dhols lifting Sumit up until they realized it was getting late for them to leave for their home town Sonepat.
“We don’t get to do this everyday. We have seen him on TV till now and celebrated once he comes back but this is a rare occasion. Him winning a title in front of us deserves a big celebration,” Sumit’s uncle said.
For high jump World Champion Nishad Kumar, it was a day of double celebration as the Himachal Pradesh native who won his gold title on his birthday. His family brought cake and they cut it right outside the stadium. “Probably, most memorable birthday,” said Nishad, who was overwhelmed by the emotional moment.
Similarly, Paralympic gold medallist Navdeep Singh’s medal ceremony turned into a page 3 scene when he was mobbed by his family and friends and had to be escorted for media interviews.
The athletes who didn’t have their family present in the stands found support in the coaches, their teammates, and the sparse crowd that visited the evening session and sometimes also administrators.
Shailesh Kumar, the first Indian gold medallist of this edition, had Raveendran Sankaran, DG of Bihar State Sports Administration, in the stands. “I flew here to support Shailesh only. His family couldn’t travel due to some reason, so I decided to come here,” said Sankaran.
Performing in front of the home crowd can swing to the either side too – an advantage due to the support, or nervousness of failing in front of the loved ones.
“To be honest, I was a little nervous before coming here. I have played across the world but for the first time, I was competing in front of the home crowd,” Ekta Bhyan, silver medallist in women’s club throw F51, said after her medal yesterday.
Yogesh — who won silver medal in the men’s discus throw F56— thought of the home support as a reason to not lose. “Iss baar toh nahi haarna tha mujhe (This time, I wasn’t losing). I have been around the globe competing in different tournaments but I did feel that this time I am confident. Specially, when I saw my family cheering from the stand, I knew that my medal is coming,” he quipped.
As the stadium light would dim for one last time at JLN Stadium after the end of the World Para Athletics Championships tonight, apart from the medals, the feeling of the family watching their loved ones shine at the world stage would linger.
