‘Bhaisahab’ Jhajharia eyeing gold hat-trick at Tokyo Paralympics

Express News Service

CHENNAI : APTLY named ‘Bhaisahab’ (elder brother) by fellow para athletes, Devendra Jhajharia will aim for a unique record when he competes in the javelin throw (F46 category) event at the Tokyo Paralympics on August 30. With two Paralympic gold already in his kitty (2004 Athens and 2016 Rio), the 40-year-old from Churu, Rajasthan will look to complete a hat-trick and cement his status as the country’s best Paralympic athlete ever. Only a few hockey players had won three gold medals in Olympics so far.

“This is the second generation of para athletes I am competing with. A few of them started addressing me as ‘Bhaisahab’ after I won a gold in the 2013 IPC World Championships. I was officially accorded the status of ‘Bhaisahab’ in 2016 during the Rio Paralympics,” Jhajharia told this daily following his training session at SAI regional centre in Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat.

He hurled the spear to 65.71m during the trials held in June to pick the Indian squad for the Tokyo Paralympics. He bettered his own world record of 63.97m set in Rio. But it will remain just a distance and not part of the record books. Jhajharia, however, is aiming much beyond that. “My target is to throw between 67 to 69 metres in Tokyo. The competition will be tough as athletes from Sri Lanka, Japan, Cuba and Mexico are good but I don’t take any pressure. I just try to do what I have been doing in training and give my best.”

Neeraj Chopra’s gold has made javelin throw a familiar sport in India and Jhajharia hopes it continues. “Neeraj’s accomplishment has developed a culture for the sport in the country. It is possible that in days to come, you will see a child not wielding bat or ball but a javelin,” opined Jhajharia.

Already a veteran of the game, the event, however, will be different this time for Jhajharia as he will not be able to share his accomplishment with his father, who passed away last year. “He was there since the beginning. He was fighting cancer and I wanted to spend days with him but he asked me to focus on my preparations. I will miss him but I know he will be there with me always.”

Despite competing internationally for almost two decades, Jhajharia is not in a mood to hang his boots. “No point in retiring after the Tokyo Paralympics but I will set new targets only after the event,” he signed off.