Diagnosed With Rare Syndrome, Yogesh Kathuniya's Journey To Successive Paralympic Silver

Indian discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya on Wednesday said he needs to work on his mental strength of his game after clinching yet another silver medal at the Paris Paralympics, marking his fifth consecutive second-place finish since the Tokyo Games three years ago. The 27-year-old from Haryana achieved a season-best throw of 42.22m in the discus throw F-56 on Monday but admitted he has not been at his best mentally. "I have lacked in mental strength. I will have to build up more, just as it was before, in 2022. Since I got injured, due to cervical, it has come down," Kathuniya told PTI during an interaction.

"If you are mentally fit, you can defeat your opponent easily. If you have a strong mindset, you know that this is not a big deal. You just have to go there and perform. If a person is totally focused mentally, he can do very well in the future."

Kathuniya competes from a seated position in F-56, which includes athletes with amputations and spinal cord injuries. He battled through chickenpox early last year and was later diagnosed with cervical radiculopathy, which affected the C4, C5, and C6 vertebrae. Despite these setbacks, he secured a silver medal at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou last year.

"It's okay. I am still young. I can easily play two more Paralympics. I will do better. I will change my style this time. I have a World Championship next year. I will perform well next year," said Kathuniya, who attended the Kirori Mal College in Delhi.

He had picked up silver medals at the 2023 and 2024 World Championships as well as in the Asian Para Games last year.

Kathuniya, who as a nine year old had developed the Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare autoimmune condition which causes numbness, tingling and muscle weakness