Disability not a hurdle

Almost a decade ago, everyone in Rangoli village, Maharashtra was surprised when Amol won the cricket match. When he removed his shoes after the game, everybody was shocked. He lost all five toes of his right foot and is now 40 percent disabled.

Inspiring: At 2 years, the gritty Village boy lost his toe

Things changed for him when he was just two years old. “Our home was on the main road in the village. I was running about and didn’t realise when I had reached the road. A state transport bus went over my foot, and I lost all the toes of my right foot,” he narrates. Everything changed for him in a moment, except for his love for sports. Though always a part of village cricket team, he didn't venture out of his village to play till class 7, when his friend suggested he should participate in cricket competition in Mumbai. He grabbed the opportunity.

Journey: To strengthen his theory, he pursued PG in physical education

He completed his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Physical Education and started working as a sports teacher in a secondary school and junior college in Minche village [30 km from his village Rangoli]. On a daily basis, he trains 80 pupils in badminton and athletics twice a day for two hours at 4 am and 5 pm. Picking up athletics was something he never imagined. “Once, my cricket coach Atul Dhanavade asked me to try athletics. Initially, it was difficult, but I loved running,” says Amol smiling.

Achievement: He has 5 National levels medals in his kitty

His efforts paid off. In less than three years his students won seven medals and nearly ten state medals. His personal achievement are no less as well. In his career spanning, he won five medals at the national level in the 100 m, 200 m, 4*100 m races and 4*400 m relay. For him his biggest feat was dabbling in athletics, which was unimaginable, he admits.

Challenges: His ultimate goal, A medal at Paralympics

This journey was full of hardships as he narrates, “In a rural setting, not much importance is given to sports, and nobody even talks about para-sports. Nobody gives us the travelling expenses to reach the venue. Next month, I will be competing at the national level in several states like Haryana and Tamil Nadu, but I’ll have to spend the money on travelling from my savings.”

Another major hurdle in this journey is the lack of exposure. “Most of the rural athletes don’t find the right guidance which is why they are restricted to their villages. Information should be conveyed to everybody because lack of awareness is the biggest issue for us. It was only in grade XII that I became aware of Paralympics when one of my friends spoke about it,” he adds

Currently, Amol doesn’t have a specialised coach for athletics and learns all his new tricks from the Internet. “My personal best is 11.75 seconds in a 100-metre race, and this was in a national-level event at Chennai in 2014,” he says proudly. His father Appaso, a farmer, has always been supportive of Amol’s decision to play sports.

While there are several issues like lack of a proper diet and proper facilities, Amol refuses to give up. His dream is to win a medal at the Paralympics as he says, “Everybody should practice a lot, then nothing seems impossible.”

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