Discus thrower Vinod Kumar was inspired by Deepa Malik's exploits at Rio Paralympics

Vinod Kumar came out as a surprise package today for India at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics. The 41-year-old discus thrower grabbed the bronze medal in the Men's F52 category with a throw of 19.91m and set an Asian Record along the way.

Vinod Kumar was able-bodied during the early stages of his life. It was after he joined the Border Security Force (BSF), then life took a drastic turn for the man from Haryana.

Just seven months after joining the BSF, Vinod sustained a very bad injury which left him bound to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. In fact, Vinod started participating in para-sports only in the year 2016.

Yes, Vinod Kumar was hugely inspired by the current Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) President, Deepa Malik, following her exploits at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics. Much like him, Deepa too used a wheelchair, but that did not deter her from achieving something historic for the country.

Soon after taking up para-sports, Vinod Kumar went on to win the bronze medal in discus throw at the 2019 World Championships. He was also detected with the deadly covid-19 recently, but managed to rise above it all to win a Paralympics bronze for India in Tokyo.