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Journalism of Courage
Third time’s the charm, as Simran Sharma found out for herself in the women’s 100m T12 category after running her first-ever sub 12s race to clinch the World Para Athletics Championships gold medal in front of the home crowd at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Friday.
The bronze medallist in 200m from the Paris Paralympics, Simran was disqualified from the 100m event at the 2024 Para World Championships in Kobe due to her guide finishing before her and finished fourth at the 2024 Paralympics in the 100m. In New Delhi though, fortune finally favoured Simran. “As you all know, my luck in the 100m at global competitions has been sketchy since last year. So, it feels really good to win the elusive gold medal in the event,” an ecstatic Simran said after the medal.
The 25-year-old’s medal is India’s first ever gold in the 100m event across categories in the para athletics and she couldn’t have chosen any better venue than in front of a home crowd. “This is my home ground and I practice here only. So, this is the best result that could have happened to me,” she quipped.
Hailing from Modinagar in Uttar Pradesh, Simran trains in the JLN stadium with her husband and coach Gajendra Sharma. Earlier in the morning, Simran set her new personal best by clocking 12.08s in the semi-finals of the event. Though nervous before the final, she set another personal best by dipping below 12s and clocking 11.95s in the final. “I was telling Umar (her guide runner Umar Saifi) before the race that going below 12 has become a dream for me now but I didn’t think that it would happen today. My preparation was good before coming into the competition and I knew if I clock my personal best, I would win a gold medal here.”
T12 category in the para athletics is for the athletes whose vision is constricted to a radius of less than five degrees. Therefore, the athletes run with a guide runner. Simran won the medals at the 2024 Paris Paralympics and 2024 Kobe World Championships with her guide runner Abhay Singh.
However after Paris, Simran partnered with Umar Saifi as Abhay moved to Mumbai for greener pastures. “Yeah, I partnered up with Saifi after the Paralympics. It is not easy to run with a new guide but Umar adapted very quickly to my methods,” said Simran.
Umar, who hails from Muradnagar, didn’t have much idea about guide runners in para athletics when Simran and Gajendra approached him. “Since I train at JLN only, they saw me training one day and approached me,” he said. “I didn’t know about para athletics. But I had an idea about Simran di as she is from Modinagar.”
It was tough for the duo to adjust initially but eventually they found rhythm. “For the first four months, it was tough for me. She is an experienced sprinter but for me it was new. Earlier, I was clueless about how to take off from the starting blocks with her. But I changed my start from the blocks and worked on the coordination on how to finish as per the regulations,” said Umar.
The defending champion in the 200m category, Simran will be vying for another gold medal and retaining her crown to become the first-ever Indian double World champion in the track events of para athletics. “With the gold medal in the 100m, the monkey is off my back and I can focus better on the 200m,” said Simran.
