Tokyo Paralympics: Simran Sharma Becomes First Indian Woman To Qualify For 100M Track Event

Simran Sharma became the first Indian woman to qualify for the 100m track event in Tokyo Paralympics. Sharma was born with semi-developed ears.

Doctors had given up on Simran Sharma when she was born due to her semi-developed ears and kept her in the incubator but 22 years later Simran Sharma became the first Indian woman to qualify for the Tokyo Paralympics. Sharma gives credit to her husband-cum-coach Naik Gajendra Singh, who is also an officer in the Indian Army and supported her wife as he sold a plot, took loans from the bank to fund Sharma's training, as per reports.

Sharma believes that her best score was 11.87 seconds and she hopes to improve before heading for the Tokyo Paralympics. She qualified in the 100-meter race on June 30 with 12 seconds, during the final trials of Paralympics at JNS.

Sharma admitted that due to her weak vision people mocked her and labelled her as 'andhi' (blind) only because she couldn't see beyond 7-10 meters. She also confessed that she never dreamt of coming this far as her parents weren't financially capable to finance her training but her husband has been a great support and the only reason behind her success.

Sharma hails from Delhi, the couple tied the knot in November 2017. In an interview with TOI, Naik Gajendra said that "Though Simran has poor vision, she is a good observer and focused athlete. Her hunger for the win will fetch medals for the country and the Indian Army has been supportive throughout their journey. He also mentioned that had to sell his plot and loans to fund Sharma's training.

Naik Gajendra Singh hails from Modi Nagar of Ghaziabad district and comes from a police background.

According to reports, Simran Sharma is the first woman to be selected for the 100-meter track event in Tokyo Paralympics. The couple pleaded to all the struggling athletes,

"To never give up hopes, train hard, and believe in yourself."

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