KARNATAKA BOY DOES INDIA PROUD AT PARALYMPICS

The 24-year-old competed in the F42 class for athletes with impaired limbs.He has an impairment in left leg Hes the sixth Indian to win a medal and this is Indias eighth medal.India had won 4 medals in 1984,two in 2004 and one in 1972.Son of a daily wage earner,he came up the hard way and landed a bank job.Quit six months ago to focus on training

Bangalore/Hassan: The Indian tricolour went up for the first time in the London Paralympics when high jumper HN Girisha,born on the Republic Day in 1988,leapt to a silver medal in the mens high jump at the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday morning.
Competing in the F42 class meant for athletes with an impairment that affects their arms or legs,the 24-year-old son of a daily wage labourer,cleared a careerbest height of 1.74m to bag the silver medal to make his countrymen,the people in his hometown Hosanagaraand and his dad Nageraje Gowda proud.
Girisha,who quit his bank job six months back to focus fully on his training,and the other two medal winners gold winner Iliesa Delana of Fiji and Lukasz Mamcarz of Poland all cleared the same height but Girisha lost the gold on count back.
Girisha who began with a clearance of 1.60m,sailed over 1.65 and 1.68 on his first attempts but stumbled when the bar was raised to 1.71m.Though the Indian cleared it on his second attempt and went past 1.74m on his first attempt,Delana clinched the gold having cleared all the heights on his first try.Both Girisha and Delana tried to scale 1.77m but failed.The Pole settled for the bronze as he c1.74 on his last attempt.
It is a dream come true.I was in New Delhi to meet the President when Sushil Kumar won the silver medal and his performance motivated me.In fact,I felt motivated whenever I saw an athlete winning a medal at the Olympics, Girisha told TOI from London as he got ready for the medal ceremony.
The star athlete said his training in SAI South Centre alongside Olympian Sahana Kumari,under the guidance of Russian coach Evgeny Nikitin,gave him a lot of confidence.I knew I could win a medal if I managed my best.The training at the SAI centre helped me a lot and Sahana also had a big role she called me last night to give me tips, he said.
Son of Nageraje and Jayamma,Girish excelled in sports both in school and college and his first big win came six years back when he climbed the podium during the World junior championships in Ireland.
Soon he moved to Bangalore looking for a job and joined a new generation bank after getting trained with the help of Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled.
In January this year,he won a medal in an international meet in Kuwait and bagged one more in the Malaysian Para meet in April.
I never expected my son could do this.When he was a kid,the doctor told me he needed a surgery to correct his disability but I got scared and refused.It was also because we couldnt afford the costs of the operation.But now I know I made a huge mistake.And look at him,he has made proud with his achievement, Nageraje said,tears welling up in his eyes.We couldnt support him well as we are repaying a bank loan of Rs 3.50 lakh taken for my daughters marriage and for building a new house.At times we even struggled to make ends meet but I can forget all that.This victory has given us a lot of happiness, the proud father added.Girishas heroic feat helped India jump to 53rd place in the medals tally.

(Inputs from Alvin Mendonca)

RS 35 LAKH FOR GIRISHA

UNLIKE THE euphoria during Olympics,the memorable feat of high jumper HN Girisha,who battled his disability to make India proud,was not followed by an avalanche of cash awards or congratulatory messages.
After union sports minister Ajay Maken reiterated on Twitter,when netizens criticized the lack of congratulatory messages,that a Paralympic medal winner will get the same cash award as an Olympic medal winner Rs 30 lakh for a silver Karnataka sports minister Appachu Ranjan announced that the state government will also chip in with a prize of Rs 5 lakh.He also promised that after discussions in the Cabinet,the state may even increase the award money.
Earlier on Twitter,lauding Girisha were Athens silver medalist RVS Rathore,Gujarat CM Narendra Modi and Maken.Sources close to the athlete said that till Tuesday evening,Girisha was yet to receive any calls from the VVIPs.