ACCO PAKISTAN

First-Ever Paralympics Gold Medal For Pakistan
Training Struggles And Determination To Win
About Paralympic Games
Paralympics Sports

Haider Ali, a Pakistani sportsman competing in Paralympic Games, has bagged an achievement by winning a gold medal for Pakistan. The contender took part in the men’s discus throw F37 at the Paralympic Games and made an astonishing throw of 55.26 metres. This is for the first time that someone has won a gold medal for Pakistan in the Paralympic Games. What’s more, Ali’s win comprises three honours: he won a gold medal for the country, it was his personal best and his victory broke the Paralympics record of discus throw.

First-Ever Paralympics Gold Medal For Pakistan

Pakistan is a country where people have a huge potential and passion for sports. Even though resources are sometimes scarce, the sheer will and motivation of the athletes have always played a great role in their success. Haider Ali is one such example of an athlete who had to face the challenge of utilizing minimum resources for maximum gains. 

Ali has previously scored two medals for Pakistan in the Paralympic Games, a silver medal in Beijing and a bronze medal in Rio but these were in a totally different game i.e. long jump event. In the 2008 Paralympic Games, Ali had participated in the discus throw but finished fourth and this year, it is the first time that he was only competing in the discus throw and made huge accomplishments.

Training Struggles And Determination To Win

Paralympic Games are parallel games to the Olympics that provide sportsmen with impairment to compete in different sports. Haider’s journey to win a gold medal for the country has not been an easy one. Due to the current global pandemic, the training facilities were closed but the games were still happening so he had to train in his own capacity.

Haider Ali belongs to Gujranwala in Pakistan. He has a limb-length discrepancy (LLD) by birth, however, it never hampered his potential or motivation to compete in sports. The National Paralympics Committee (NPC) of Pakistan became the hope of the sportsman to enable him to achieve sporting excellence and prove his worth. 

About Paralympic Games

In 1948 at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London, the first competition for wheelchair athletes was held in which 16 men and women participated in the archery competition. The event was named Stoke Mandeville Games which later became the Paralympic Games and first took place in Rome, Italy in 1960 where 400 athletes participated from 23 countries. 

Paralympic Games are organized in the same cities and venues as the Olympics Games because of an agreement between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Paralympic Games offer differently-abled athletes an opportunity to compete at international level competitions.  

Paralympics Sports

The IPC has sanctioned 28 Paralympic sports for summer and winter events. 22 of these sports will be played in summer games while the remaining six will be played in winter games. During the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the committee has registered two new sports which are badminton and taekwondo. A new winter sport, snowboarding, has also been registered by the committee in which athletes will be participating.

The remaining summer and winter sports are mentioned below.

Paralympic Summer Sports

• Archery
• Athletics
• Badminton
• Boccia
• Canoe
• Cycling
• Equestrian
• Football 5-a-side
• Goalball
• Judo
• Powerlifting
• Rowing
• Shooting Para sport
• Sitting volleyball
• Swimming
• Table tennis
• Taekwondo
• Triathlon
• Wheelchair basketball 
• Wheelchair fencing
• Wheelchair rugby
• Wheelchair tennis

Paralympic Winter Sports

• Alpine skiing
• Biathlon
• Cross-country skiing
• Para ice hockey
• Snowboard
• Wheelchair curling

Apart from the Paralympics Games, another Pakistani athlete Arshad Nadeem competed in men’s javelin throw to compete against former world champion and other competitors from India, Germany and Czech. Unfortunately, Arshad couldn’t win a podium position but definitely won the hearts of millions of Pakistanis back home. He was also praised for his skills and efforts by his fellow contender from India who also became the world champion at Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

This is all about the newest achievement of a Pakistani athlete bagging a gold medal for Pakistan in the Paralympic Games. For similar stories, head over to the lifestyle section of Zameen Blog now and if you wish to get in touch with us, write to us at blog@zameen.com.