Paris Paralympics 2024: Despite challenges, Deepthi Jeevanji thrives at Paralympics, wins 16th medal for India

Paris Paralympics 2024: The world has seen that all is possible if one has the will, as shown by the Paris Paralympics of 2024. The athletes have achieved success in spite of obstacles. Deepthi Jeevanji of India is one of those remarkable athletes who faced several obstacles along the way but never gave up. At the current Paris Paralympics 2024, Deepthi Jeevanji earned the bronze in the women’s 400-meter T20 final on Tuesday, earning her the 16th medal for India. The para-athlete took 55.82 seconds to complete the race.

India’s first gold medal at the World Athletics Para Championship in Kobe, Japan, had previously been won by Deepthi Jeevanji. Her hometown is Kalleda village, which is located in the Andhra Pradesh district of Warangal.

At that time, her parents, Jeevanji Yadhagiri and Jeevanji Dhanalaxmi, remembered the insults their daughter had to endure as a child. As per a media source, Deepthi was diagnosed at birth with intellectual impairment, a cognitive disorder that impairs both adaptive abilities and communication.

She was born during a solar eclipse, and at birth, her lips and nose were a little odd, and her head was quite little. Deepthi was called pichi (mental) and kothi (monkey) by every villager who saw her, along with some of our relatives, and they would advise us to give her away to an orphanage. Deepthi’s mother, Jeevanji Dhanalaxmi, told the media in May, “Seeing her become the world champion in a far-off country proves that she is indeed a special girl.”

“We had to sell the farm in order to make ends meet after the death of my husband’s father. There were days when I had to work to support our family, which included Deepthi’s younger sister Amulya, since my husband would only make about Rs 100 or Rs 150 a day.

Deepthi was seldom agitated and didn’t say anything. But she would weep when she got home after being teased by the local children. She was thrilled when I would cook her sweet rice or, sometimes, chicken for her.”