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Paralympics 2024

How IIT shaped Nitesh Kumar's journey delivering Paralympic gold for India

The Indian para-shuttler caused an epic upset in the final to bag gold for India.

How IIT shaped Nitesh Kumars journey delivering Paralympic gold for India
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Nitesh Kumar won the gold medal at the 2024 Paralympics. (Photo Credit: BWF TV)

By

Pritish Raj

Updated: 2 Sep 2024 12:31 PM GMT

Popularly known as the IITs, the Indian Institute of Technology is a set of institutions that nurture the best academic minds in the country.

But what happens when a Para-athlete discovers sporting excellence at an engineering college?

He delivers a gold medal at the biggest stage, the Paralympics.

Such is the story of Nitesh Kumar, the newly crowned Paralympic gold medalist in the men's singles SL3 Badminton category.

Finding solace in badminton

The 29-year-old from Haryana suffered an accident in 2009 that left him bedridden with permanent leg damage and altered his life. However, despite the setback, his love for sports never ended.

Nitesh, who played football as a kid, kept persisting in his love of sport.

But while preparing for the IITs during an academic break after the 12th board exam, he would never have thought that his continuous search for a sport to play would lead him to the biggest stage in the world.

After Nitesh cleared IIT in 2013, he joined IIT Mandi to study electrical engineering.

While most students at IIT focus on research and academics, Nitesh found solace in badminton.

"The best thing IIT-Mandi gave me was the opportunity to play badminton even after being a para-student. They even helped me with my training providing me with all the facilities and extending financial support to play the sport," Nitesh once told this publication.

The ones who have been to any engineering college would know that conferences and paper presentations are an integral part of the college system with the events happening every other day.

One such conference became a life-changer for Nitesh when he came to know about the world of Para Sports and the sports category that caters to athletes with disabilities.

Once he got the avenue, there was no looking back for Nitesh as his breakthrough came in 2016 when he secured a bronze at the Para-Nationals.

His journey at the National level took off and he started winning medals consistently.

Navigating academics

Nitesh was presented with an opportunity to go to the World Championships in 2017 but he had to miss it due to his semester exams.

But in 2018, when a chance to represent the country surfaced at the Asian Para Games, he didn't hesitate.

"I was in my seventh semester and had my exams which is why I couldn't participate in the World Championships in 2017. In 2018, I had the opportunity to take part in the 2018 Para Asian Games. I didn't want to lose it this time," he said at the time.

His decision proved to be the right one as he clinched the bronze medal in the men's doubles section.

National coach Gaurav Khanna realized the potential in Nitesh and started supporting him, especially in a way that he could complete his studies and balance a strike with regular playing and training.

Tokyo Paralympics was the watershed moment for Para-Badminton in the country as the gold medals of Pramod Bhagat and Krishna Nagar with two other medals turned many eyeballs to the sport.

Nitesh also found his pinnacle of domestic success as he defeated two Paralympic medalists, Pramod Bhagat, and Manoj Sarkar, in the same tournament to clinch the gold medal.

With things aligning for him at the right time, Nitesh won silver at the 2022 World Championships and stood on the podium three times at the 2022 Asian Para Games with gold in men's doubles, silver in men's singles, and bronze in mixed doubles.

When Pramod Bhagat was suspended by NADA for whereabouts failure, India's chance at a gold medal looked bleak.

But Nitesh was undeterred.

And when the final point of the edge-of-the-seat battle was won, a fist-pump was but an apt celebration.

After all, overturning a nine-match losing streak to Bethell on the biggest stage of them all was no easy task. And after multiple silver and bronze medals at the world level, the electrical engineer from IIT Mandi finally delivered a gold for India by shocking the best in the business.

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