How Preethi Pal overcame life-threatening conditions and won two bronze medal in sprint

Days after her historic 100m bronze medal at the Paralympics, Preethi Pal added another medal to her cabinet with a 200m bronze in Paris. She is the first and only track athlete to medal at the Paralympics and sprints double, increasing her stature in the sport. Since 1984, all athletics medals have come in field events until the Uttar Pradesh girl broke the deadlock earlier this week.

The 200m women’s T35 followed the expected script with favourite China’s Zhou Xia taking the top spot to bag her third golden sprints double in the Paralympics. The 25-year-old, who clocked 28.15s, has been topping the sprints events since 2016. Her compatriot Guo Qianqian took the silver with 29.9s on the clock. Preethi managed to latch on to the third spot with a decent timing of 30.01s.

Earlier this week, at the T35 100m event, she clocked a personal best of 14.21s for the bronze. All on her Paralympic debut too, making the event all the more memorable for the 23-year-old. “Before I came to Paris, I hoped to get a medal in the worlds. I got the bronze. So I thought I could do it at these Paralympics. Now I hope to get a medal in the 200m,” she had said after the 100m event.

Preethi created history becoming the first-ever Indian woman track & field athlete to win 2 medals at the Paralympics or Olympics.

Preethi, who was born to a farmer’s family in Muzaffarpur in Uttar Pradesh, is no stranger to adversity. Just days after her birth, her lower body was plastered. With weak legs and an irregular leg posture, making her prone to various diseases. She underwent various traditional treatments to strengthen her legs.

Born fighter

At the age of five, she started wearing callipers and wore them for eight years. Despite many doubting her survival, Preethi proved to be a fighter, overcoming life-threatening conditions and emerged victorious, demonstrating with incredible strength and resilience.

Preethi was naturally ecstatic after her triumph. The youngster could scarcely believe that she had medalled at the biggest stage of her career. “This was my first Paralympics and I am yet to believe that I have won a medal. I am feeling proud that I have won India’s first track medal in the Paralympics,” she said.

At 17, Preethi’s perspective began to shift when she watched the Paralympic Games. She was inspired and realised that she too could pursue her dreams. Paralympic athlete Fatima Khatoon came as a blessing. She introduced her to the nuances of the sport and trained her to compete at state level meets in 2018.

After initially training in Meerut, a sports manufacturing hub that ironically hasn’t a single synthetic track facility, she was forced to make the big move to Delhi to train under coach Gajender Singh at the Jawaharlal Lal Nehru Stadium. Together, they focused on refining her running techniques, leading to significant improvements in her performance.

At the 2023 Asian Para championships in China, she had two heartbreaking fourth place finishes in the 100 and 200m events but Preethi came back stronger. Her dedication and hard work culminated in her selection for the World Para Athletics Championship, where she excelled, winning bronze medals in both the 100m and 200m. The T35 classification is designated for athletes with coordination impairments, encompassing conditions such as hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, and cerebral palsy.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.