Meet 2 para cyclists who will represent India at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris

Two persons with disabilities, trained in Hyderabad, have been selected to represent the country at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris.

Jyoti Radheshyam Gaderiya from Maharashtra and Shaikh Arshad from Andhra Pradesh were trained as world-class paracyclists at the Hyderabad-based Aditya Mehta Foundation. Both lost a leg in traffic accidents, but that didn’t stop them from excelling in the sport.

Jyoti, who comes from a farming family, played kabaddi at the state level before she met with an accident at the age of 18. “I had a traffic accident in 2016 and lost one of my legs. I was in intensive care for three months and for two years I had withdrawn from everything in life. In the meantime, my father got me admitted to a university to study civil engineering. Towards 2019 I started to become interested in sports and chose rowing. Through social media, I came across an army officer named Gaurav Dutta. He guided me in rowing and I went on to receive a bronze medal at the Asian Games,” she said. Jyoti later switched to cycling and joined the Aditya Mehta Foundation in 2022.

Shaikh Arshad from Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh was 11 when he started participating in Taekwondo. In 2004, when he was twelve, the car he was driving was hit by another vehicle. He lost a leg in the incident. Today he is number 5 in the world in paracycling.

“In 2018, I came across the Aditya Mehta Foundation online. I used a Jaipur leg but that caused bleeding. The foundation presented me with a silicone leg and helped me hone my skills. In 2019 I ran a marathon. The same year I climbed 5,000 meters of Mount Bhagirathi. I also cycled from Kashmir to Kanyakumari in 43 days. So far, I have won six golds and four silvers in international events in cycling,” Arshad told News18.