Background
Devendra Jhajharia was born in 1981 and hails from the Churu District in Rajasthan.
Devendra Jhajharia was born in 1981 and hails from the Churu District in Rajasthan.
At the age of eight, while climbing a tree he touched a live electric cable. He received medical attention but the doctors were forced to amputate his left hand. In 1997 he was spotted by Dronacharya Awardee coach Rural Delivery Singh while competing at a school sports day, and from that point was coached by Singh.
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).
In 2014, he was honored with FICCI Para-Sportsperson of the year Award. 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 won gold medal in the javelin throw at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, becoming only the second gold medalist at the Paralympics for his country. In 2002 Jhajharia won the gold medal in the 8th FESPIC Games in of Korea. His success in Athens saw him honoured with 2004 Arjuna Award. He received India"s prestigious Padma Shri Award in March 2012 from the President Of India becoming the first Paralympian to be honoured with the award.
