New Delhi: For Sharmila Dhankar, every shot carries the weight of rebuilding her life. Growing up in poverty in Haryana’s Mahendragarh district, experiencing domestic abuse in his first marriage and later selling the family home to sustain his sporting dreams, the 40-year-old para shot putter turned adversity into ambition as he prepared for the second Commonwealth Games (CWG).Sharmila wrote history on Monday night when she became India’s first Commonwealth Games para-athletics gold medalist. She won the women’s shot put F57 championship with a season-best time of 9.81m, ending a 20-year wait for a USA Para Track and Field Games medal. CWG’s last Paralympic medal was won by Ranjith Kumar Jayaseelan in the men’s seated discus event in 2006.The F57 classification is for athletes with lower extremity injuries, limb deficiencies or weakened muscles.The seated thrower, who also competes in the discus, made it to the Olympics after a stellar performance at the Fazza International Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, where she won gold in the shot put and bronze in the discus.Her sports career began at the age of 34. Sharmila contracted polio at the age of two, affecting her right leg, and grew up in a family that struggled to make ends meet. “My mother is blind and my father is a farmer and we had little to survive. Life was never easy,” she told TOI.After marrying at 19, she endured years of domestic violence before returning to her parents’ home with her two daughters, Anju, now 15, and Lakshmi, 13. “One night I was beaten by my first husband from 11pm to 3am and kicked out of the house. I never went back,” she recalls.After her second marriage, her life changed. Her husband Ajit Singh introduced her to para sports and encouraged her to train under coaches Tek Chand and Devendra. In 2021, she made her debut at the National Disability Championships and won the gold medal with a national record.The following year, she finished fourth at the CWG in Birmingham, narrowly missing out on a medal. In 2023, she finished fourth again at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games. Despite the performance, financial difficulties persisted. To fund her career, the family sold their house in Rewari in 2023 and moved into a rental house. “Sports gave me a second life. After winning the CWG Disability Medal and Asian Games This year, I want to buy a house again. ” she said.Sharmila finished fifth at the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi last year. Beyond medals, her biggest dream is to ensure her daughters have the opportunities she never had. Both are budding athletes – Anju competes in the under-16 javelin and Lakshmi is an under-14 long jumper. Sharmila hopes sports can help build a future free from the difficulties she had to overcome.
