It was October 12, 2018. Sudhir had just won a bronze at the para Asian Games in Jakarta and the first person he shared the happy news with was his father Rajbir Singh, a retired CISF official, who was elated at his eldest son's achievement. Rajbir promised a grand felicitation function for the para powerlifter upon his arrival from Jakarta.
A night-long festivity ensued at Sudhir's home in Lath village in Haryana's Sonepat, which revelled in the success of their son of the soil. However, the celebrations soon turned into a tragedy as Rajbir suddenly collapsed after suffering a cardiac arrest and died.
For the next two days, Sudhir didn't get to hear from his father, as his family members hid the tragic news from him. On October 15, Sudhir landed at the capital's IGI airport from Jakarta but found the celebratory atmosphere missing. He couldn't spot his father among the crowd of his friends and relatives.
That's when one of his uncles broke the dreadful news to him. During his journey back home from the airport, Sudhir cried, blaming himself for not making that one last video call to his father to show him the para Asiad bronze medal.
On Friday, when TOI reached out to Sudhir in Birmingham after he won gold in men's heavyweight para powerlifting event at the CWG late Thursday night, all he could do was remember his father's numerous sacrifices to give his disabled son's life a new direction.
Sudhir did the country proud in Birmingham when he became India's first-ever para athlete to win a gold in the history of para CWG after accumulating a total of 134.5 points with his lifts in the 88kg weight division to break the Games record. He lifted 208kg in his first attempt and then increased his lead to 212kg with his second lift. In his third and last attempt, he failed to lift 217kg but clinched the country's seventh gold at the ongoing Games. Nigeria's Ikechukwu Christian Obichukwu won the silver with 133. 6 points, while Britain's Micky Yule bagged the bronze with 130.9 points.
"This medal is for my late father and coaches. I know he would be showering me with the endless amount of love from the heavens. It's because of his blessings that I have reached where I am today. God took him away from us too soon. I still have one regret in my life that I couldn't show my para Asian Games medal to him. Today, when I have created history, he is not around. This one is for you dad," an emotional Sudhir, 27, told TOI.
Sudhir's is just the sixth medal for India in the history of the para CWG. Ranjith Kumar Jayaseelan had won the country's first-ever para CWG medal - a bronze - in the men's seated discus throw at the 2006 Melbourne CWG. India's only silver medallist till date has been 2004 Athens Paralympics bronze winner powerlifter, Rajinder Singh Rahelu (56kg), who finished runner-up in the men's heavyweight division (72. 1kg) at the 2014 Glasgow CWG. The other medallists - all bronze - in para CWG for India include Prasanta Karmakar (swimming, men's 50m freestyle S9), Sakina Khatun (powerlifting, women's 61kg) and Sachin Chaudhary (powerlifting, men's heavyweight).
Sudhir's mother Savitri Devi said Sudhir never let this affect his passion for sports. Sudhir's diet, she revealed, includes five kg of fresh milk and sprouted grams and almonds daily to maintain strength.
"Sudhir is an iron-willed athlete who puts his best effort once he decides to achieve any goal and nothing can deter him from that," said Savitri Devi.
JP Singh, powerlifting coach who is a superintendent at Customs and GST department in Delhi, informed that Sudhir suffered an impairment due to polio and was introduced to the sport by veteran powerlifting coach and player, Virender Dhankar. "Due to high fever, he contracted polio at the age of four. He was introduced to powerlifting in 2013 and today, he stood on the podium in Birmingham with a Games record which is historic in itself. He couldn't better his personal best effort of 232kg in the 88kg category which he had achieved at the Kolkata powerlifting Nationals in March. But he has qualified for Asiad," Singh said.
(With inputs from Sat Singh/TNN)
