Two para cyclists from Hyderabad to represent India at Paralympic Games 2024

HYDERABAD: Para cyclists Jyoti Radheshyam Gaderiya and Shaik Arshad have taken the city to the centre stage of Paralympics in Paris from August 28 to September 8, by qualifying for the premier event. Both are products of the Hyderabad-headquartered Aditya Mehta Foundation.

Gaderiya, a promising kabbadi player, she met with a horrifying life-threatening accident in 2016 at her village in Maharashtra. Her left leg was amputated and she went into depression that lasted all of two years. It was her steely resolve that kept her alive and she took to cycling. Now she is all set to represent India in the cycling events at Paris.

Arshad, the No. 5 ranked para cyclist in the world, is jubilant that he will compete in Paris. When he was 12 years old, in 2014, his left leg was amputated following an autorickshaw accident near Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh.

Recalling her fight back, Gaderiya, 26, told Deccan Chronicle, “I took up para rowing and clinched an international bronze in 2019. I shifted priorities and my concentration is now on cycling, in which I have won 12 international medals. Aditya Mehta Foundation is where I am honing my skills. They provide accommodation, food, training and counselling.”

Arshad explained, “I was picked up by Aditya Mehta Foundation during a talent hunt in Bengaluru in 2018, I was brought here and trained in para cycling. When I failed to secure any medals, I was demotivated and left the sport. But the foundation members reached out to me. I resumed practice in 2022. Today I am at No 5 among para cyclists in the world.”

Among his achievements, he says, “I climbed Mount Bhagarathi, which is one of the world’s toughest peaks. During this expedition, personnel from the Border Security Force supported me in 2019. In 2020 I cycled from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. In 2022 I bagged two medals in the 2022 Asian track cycling championship.”