Nishad Kumar: Two silver medals at Paralympics but no government job yet

Nishad Kumar has won consecutive silver medals at the Paralympics. (Instagram/nishad_____kumar6100)

Discipline is essential for an athlete to make a mark on the world stage and India's two-time Paralympic winner Nishad Kumar is an ardent believer. Nishad believes "Jis din koi khiladi khud se cheating karta hain, mujhe lagta hain woh ek hafta piche chale jata hain".

Nishad's mantra is train rigorously, smash hurdles, and set new targets. Following the same has helped the 25-year-old win back-to-back Paralympic silver in high jump (T47  category). Despite the achievement, Nishad is not very happy with his performance in Paris, the venue of the last Paralympics, where the athlete from Himachal Pradesh secured the second position with a jump of 2.04m.

In Nishad and his coach's words, the performance was "ordinary" and elaborating further the athlete shares the first remarks from his coach, who said: 'Jitna tune performance kiya, tu kabhi bhi soke uth ke itna jump karedega.'

"The way I used to jump during training if I would have done just that the color of the medal would have been different," he added.

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Nishad mostly trains in the US under the watchful eyes of Jeremy Fischer and Satyanarayana Shimoga. Ever since the haul in the French capital, Nishad has been enjoying some time off and will return to training in November to prepare for the next tournament, which is the World Para Athletics Championships. Nishad's requirements are supported by OGQ, a foundation with which he has been associated since 2019.

Nishad has always been a big-time performer despite losing his right arm below the elbow in a farm accident when he was eight. This, however, didn't stop the 25-year-old from excelling at sports, while majorly competing against able-bodied athletes. His performance at the National Games 2022 in Gujarat, where he produced his career-best effort (2.14m) competing against able-bodied athletes is a testament to his excellence. "I only got to know about para sports in 2017. There is a different level of motivation to participate against able-bodied athletes," he said.

Nishad credits a lot of his success to his mother, who herself was a state-level volleyball player and discus thrower and "dreamt that her son would become a great athlete."

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Despite achieving what others yearn for, Nishad does have his share of complaints. "It has already been 3-4 years since I won a medal at Tokyo Paralympics but I'm yet to get a job offer from the state government. I think I deserve a job because there are quotas available. I also appealed to the government that I need a job but now with a second medal, I'm hopeful I'll get one. These things hurt as other athletes have A-grade jobs in their respective state or central government.

"But I'm thankful for the cash prize that I got from the government."

The excerpts in the article are from an interview between the author and two-time Paralympic medallist Nishad Kumar in October 2024.