“I cannot miss something that I frankly do not remember having,” says K Kalaiselvan as he gets ready for his practice session at the Anna Stadium in Tiruchi. The para-athlete from Aravapadi village in Mayiladuthurai district was recently in the news, along with Chennai-based K Rajesh, for being one of the two recipients in Tamil Nadu, of Olympics-standard running blade prostheses from Udhayanidhi Stalin, Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development.
Having lost his lower right leg in a road accident at the age of five, Kalaiselvan says his friends never let him feel that he was lacking in any way. “I used to be very mischievous and always running around (with the help of a government-issued wooden prosthetic) as a kid, with my friends urging me on. They wouldn’t start any game until I joined them,” he recalls.
Kalaiselvan became interested in athletics a few years ago, and started sprinting with a prosthetic leg sponsored by a corporate donor when he was in his early 20s. “I came to know about the sports quota for para-athletes only in the final year of my Masters course. I decided to get coached properly in order to make a mark,” he says. By then, he had won medals in 100m and 400m district and state level para-athletic meets.
Learning from mentor
In 2022, he approached M Manikanda Arumugam, former International athlete and a certified coach, to train at the Rockfort Star Academy in Tiruchi.
“Despite being a late starter in competitive sports, Kalaiselvan has shown good form, and won medals at State and National levels in the past year. He is clocking 26.05 seconds in practice, and his personal best is 24.00, though recent injuries and illness have upset his performance slightly. If he is able to perfect a timing of 23 seconds, I’m quite confident he can qualify for the Paralympic Games in Paris this year,” says Arumugam.
Their hopes are hinged on the new prosthetic blade, gifted by the minister in October 2023.
“Every prosthesis needs to be customised according to the para-athlete’s requirements. I was using a running blade earlier too, but the model was not flexible enough, and caused lesions on my skin. The new leg has helped me improve my running immensely. It can be fixed quickly below my right knee, and I get to train with regular athletes daily,” Kalaiselvan says.
Goals unlimited
Arumugam works as a ticketing inspector in the Southern Railways in Tiruchi, and uses his experience at international track events, to train over 70 athletes from Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Kerala and Haryana.
“Persons with disability have become proactive about overcoming their handicap to perform well in sports, unlike a few years ago. All my students bond as one family, and look out for each other. Of course, training for sports needs discipline and stamina. But it is also a costly pursuit for many, especially rural youth. We raise the funds within a small circle of friends and sponsors to keep our academy going. Though most athletes can expect to be active professionally up to the age of 32, we also try and get them placed in jobs while they are in their prime, so that they have a back-up plan during retirement,” says Arumugam.
When his training schedule permits, Kalaiselvan moonlights as a courier company delivery agent. “I lost my father at a young age, and my mother is a daily wage earner. She has been my pillar of support, and sends me ₹5,000 per month for my expenses. As a son, I feel I must do my bit to help her, because health supplements can be expensive. Sometimes, my relatives try to dissuade me from continuing in athletics. But I dream of the day when my success will silence my critics,” he says.
